To have cried!

[7dayslater]

I'm 19. DS is 18 months.

I live with DP & DS. I work hard, I have 2 jobs. DP works too. So, no we don't just sit on our arses, but we still need UC help to pay the bills. I want(ed) to train and work in the NHS. I'm also interested in politics.

So yeah, when I woke up this morning and saw the election result I cried. Austerity is very real, it's not a joke or a fictional story. With the way it is right now, I cannot afford an education. I cannot afford to study for a career. I'm stuck where I am.

Sadder still, others have it far worse. There are children in poverty, a homelessness crisis, the NHS is crumbling when people need it more than ever. I can respect democracy. I can respect the vote. But I have to ask, for people like me - what now?

It’s so hard to put myself in the shoes of someone who thinks a 19 year old, a young adult with everything to live for and who knows how much potential, shouldn’t have the opportunity to revisit education. This person might be anything or do anything, given a very small amount of support. When we’re crying out for nurses and other staff in the NHS, this person wants to train in a vocation to help others.

Is it just spite? Did someone piss on your cornflakes? What?

I'm really sorry about these hideous comments, OP.

No, you are not being unreasonable at all. I have been in tears on and off since 4am. Just can't get it together.

I think people in general should just get a grip - what's the point of crying or feeling 'heartbroken' just because your chosen party didn't win??

Im so sorry other posters are goving you a hard time. I know how hard it is to go back into education when you or your partner work.
I can't believe people are saying such horrible things to you.
You kept your baby and you and your parnter grew up very quickly (we did too) but you're still slated. Even though you both work.

Enjoy your little baby. I had a baby at about the same age as you and i couldnt afford childcare to go back into education because my boyfriend worked. They dont take into account your outgoings especially rent!

Its been nearly 7 years and i have done one OSC course. Online courses werent for me, so i am waiting until my youngest is school aged.

Dont worry. If you ever have children, buy luxuries or wear make up again you will be slated. By everyone. For everything. Ignore them all. Tossers.

19 year old, a young adult with everything to live for and who knows how much potential, shouldn’t have the opportunity to revisit education

But she has the opportunity. There are more opportunities than ever

Having a DC aged 17/18 would make work/study challenging under any government.

Suggest thoroughly investigating all your work and education options and continuing to share parenting with your DP, ensuring that you focus on your education and earnings as much as he does his.

I had a child at 19 and from that day on it wasn't about me, it was about providing the best I could for my family.
You chose to have a child, give up education and work.
You need to get on with making your life what you want it to be.

But she has the opportunity. There are more opportunities than ever

And that’s good. But it doesn’t make the people telling her to live with her mistake any less total tossers.

OP, in the nicest possible way, a diploma in creative media is not going to get you very far. Do you have any gcse's?. If not, get some. Especially maths and English. Most jobs require this. Then get yourself on a course that will lead to a good job at the end of it. As others have said, your child will get free childcare soon. Start planning. Dont sit crying about the result. Boris didnt get you where you are now, you did.

What I notice on these threads today, and there are a few of them, is that - emboldened by someone with less morals than a weasel running the country - people are really showing who they are. Gloves are off, no need to show empathy or understanding, anyone struggling has only their "poor choices" to blame.

That's why the Conservatives won the election in my opinion - its because anyone who has problems is somehow a lesser being, can only ever have themselves to blame, must not be given any support, and Labour dared to suggest otherwise.

I will go back to education. I'm just feeling a little hopeless today. I don't blame politics. It's very hard to find another course within 3 weeks of term starting, most colleges are full by then - choosing to work instead was not a decision I (at 17) made lightly.

@TabbyMumz

Vomit react to that hateful post.

@Parky04 that's rude. Leave her child out of it! She's worried for the future. Like me 30 years old with young children. It is a worry. At least she has a good head on her shoulders and wants to do good!

@MilkTrayLimeBarrel It's so dramatic isnt it. MN is a weird place today.

Boris didnt get you where you are now, you did.

And that’s the essence of Tory ideology, isn’t it? Everything is explained on the level of individual choice and action. Nothing is ever systemic or structural.

Choosing to give up your education and have a child is a personal choice not a political choice

Sadly, I think we're going to see a flood of posters openly blaming the political climate for their life choices. It's easy, isn't it?

"It's not my fault, the Tories made me do it."

Personal accountability seems vanishingly rare these days.

@MilkTrayLimeBarrel This isn't a football match. People aren't upset because the team they support lost. Does it really need to be explained that governments make decisions based on a set of values that then affect the whole country? If you are diametrically opposed to those values and those decisions and those decisions affect you or the society you live in negatively then that's pretty upsetting.

I have every sympathy with your situation but what did you think would be different this morning? Even if Labour had won, I can't see any of their policies that would have been immediately implemented and made a difference to your life.
This is the second thread on here this morning with people asking 'what now?' when actually there wasn't any viable ways their lives would have changed regardless of the outcome of the election. Labour's manifesto had ambitious policies but none of them would have made today different.

Glad to hear it, OP. You can get an interest free course loan for a Level 3 qualification that can be done part-time. Look into it.

Again, I'm so sorry that you have to read this bilge, OP. There are some incredibly vicious people out there.

But don't forget, a lot of us wanted Labour. A lot of us care about people like you, me included.

Look thoroughly at your existing qualifications and options. Beyond the courses immediately available.

I wasn't pleased with the election result, either.

But...

I was a young woman, a single/divorced mother, under Mrs Thatcher's regime. I managed to get an education and a decently-paid job. I put my daughter through independent secondary education. Be determined. You'll get there.

Now, I'm going to be old and vulnerable under Boris. I'm revisiting that young woman who did so much when she had to, and getting ready to be her older incarnation.

All i see on these threads today are people moaning how little they will get now labours out.

Good grief it’s time to buckle up and provide for your own families. This is why we’re in this mess. Too long have we handed out to everyone whose decided it’s far easier to milk the system.

And I’m not for one minute including those with disabilities or children with extra needs that whole system needs some SEVERE help.

But to help those who really need it we need to stop giving out benefits and free this and that to everyone who has just decided it’s far too easy to sit at home or milk the system because they will get better paid in benefits.

Life is hard, providing for children is hard. It’s about time people learnt to WORK instead of moaning what they don’t get given.

Some really nasty comments on here today, really judgmental seeing as you don't know the OPs full situation.