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?

Most of the comments criticising the OP offer no help. She has an child FFS, what do you suggest she does? Put the child up for adoption? Wear sackcloth and ashes to beg for forgiveness?

It's like queuing up at the soup kitchen, eating the meal and then mocking people in the queue on the way out for scrounging.

That^^ was to cheeseman.

Presumably, you chose to have a baby and therefore knew the baby would severely curtail your education? And then the education you did choose to access was 'creative media' which isn't really going to open the right doors for you.

“I’m alright Jack.”

🙄

And then the education you did choose to access was 'creative media' which isn't really going to open the right doors for you.

Careers education being also woeful in this country!

Thestinkycheeseman
And where would you be without the benefit system? Fucked up or not?
You have don’t very well to break through and follow a path that you were not brought up to respect and I really respect that.
But it everyone is made of that same get up and go strength. Some people’s strengths are hidden away and some people aren’t as brave and some people find life really really fucking hard.
Why do you judge so harshly when you’re clearly made of such strong stuff and that energy and essence could help so many less fortunate .
Have you let your deprived childhood make you bitter? I hope that some day that changes & I’m sorry your child hood wasn’t good enough.

This is the problem with labour voters, if your opinion differs they start with the name calling.

I provide for my family, I pay tax and I give to charity and I'm the bad person.

@7dayslater it might be worth looking at your local uni, quite a few offer bursaries etc, as well as standard student finance; and parent learning allowance and up to 85% of childcare. Good luck whatever you choose to do, ignore the nasty replies.

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.

This has made me furious. Just how pathetically entitled are you?

You have had exactly the same opportunities to study for a career as every other person your age in this country. You chose to drop out of education to pursue parenthood instead. Part of being an adult is having to accept that you don't just get to do exactly what you want, when you want, without there being a price to pay, somewhere along the road.

Having said that, if you really wanted to go to university now you'd be financially supported and encouraged to do so. If you don't have the grades to get into uni now, you'd be supported to achieve them or a suitable equivalent via a college access course or an extra foundation year, to enable you to participate in higher education.

Seriously, you have SO MANY choices, privileges, safety nets and second chances compared to women your age in other parts of the world it's unreal.

Thousands of millions of women can't access free birth control, can't access free abortion, can't access free education, can't choose their own husbands, can't just choose to have kids or not have kids when it suits them, irrespective of whether or not they have a husband, or whether they are financially self sufficient. And they don't get support from a welfare state to feed and clothe and house the babies they may have had very little choice in bearing.

You will have gone into young parenthood knowing full well that it was going to be a huge financial challenge that everyone advised against, but you did it anyway. You have a roof over your head paid for by the taxpayer and an income subsidised by the taxpayer and all you can do is cry about how unfair your life is because Jeremy Corbyn isn't going to be along shortly you to shower you with more money and a brand new council house.

In the nicest possible way, get a fucking grip. Take some responsibility for your own life choices and their ramifications.

AllideasAndNoAction

That is one of the nastiest things I have ever read.

It's like queuing up at the soup kitchen, eating the meal and then mocking people in the queue on the way out for scrounging.

Couldn't agree more. I might not rely on benefits or my life might not change that much with Tory. But theres a new generation of kids being raised in a council house like I was, that deserve the same security me and my siblings got, to enable us to become contributing members of society.

This is the problem with labour voters, if your opinion differs they start with the name calling

I didn't vote Labour .

You're not the bad guy for paying your taxes, providing some of your children's necessities, the rest, like school, hospital etc being covered by the state, at least partially. You're the bad guy for begrudging people who are in the same boat you once were in, the same opportunities and benefits you enjoyed. Now you're acting as if you did it all by yourself. You didn't.

This morning she should be thankful a majority of voters are sane.

you should have prioritised your education before having a child

^this.

Having a child at 17 was irresponsible, maybe you should of thought about training to get a well paid decent job before having a child.

Reading this thread makes me realise why the Tories did as well as they did.

Thestinkycheeseman I don’t think you’re bad. I think you’re being hardened and have a serious lack of compassion in an attempt to better yourself you’ve worked incredibly hard. You’ve had trauma from your childhood and by rising above it you’ve detached yourself . You don’t understand how if you can better yourself why others can’t do the same. That’s your self esteem talking.
It’s understandable. It’s hypocritical and unkind , but I do understand.

Except @mynameiswah I'm a former Labour voter and I voted Green yesterday 🤷‍♀️

But please... Do carry on explaining why a grown adult shouldn't be accountable for her decision making like the rest of us have to be.

Most of us here have to work one or two low paid jobs, with a baby or two, a spouse or no spouse, and some of us still study too! Even without support networks or previous academic experience.

We crack on and just get the fuck on with it. This is the real world. Life isn't easy for 90% of us.

@Andysbestadventure It would be a lot kinder and easier if people weren’t so hard on themselves and others.
If we could ask for help without the fear of stigma and judgement.
It might not feel like such a struggle 90% of the time if those who have a lot helped those who don’t have so much .

Do carry on explaining why a grown adult shouldn't be accountable for her decision making like the rest of us have to be.

How old are you? Do you really not believe it’s reasonable for there to be a window in which young people are supported, even when they don’t make the most practical choices, so that they can make more of their lives than they might otherwise? Isn’t that a bit ungenerous of you?

To be honest I don't really care.
I'm sick of the snowflakes and entitled attitude.
I'm sick of the faux devastation over an election result, as if someone would of been around to individuals houses today making a difference if Labour had got in.
But I'm mostly sick of the threads were people just don't responsibly fit their life choices

YANBU at all, OP, and in my opinion some of the replies you've had on here perfectly illustrate how hard and cynical society has become after unending years of Tory heartlessness.

Thestinkycheeseman

It’s not really relevant whether you care. Others are pointing out the hypocrisy of you accepting a level of help that you now want to deny to others.

To be honest I don't really care

That sums it up nicely. Dress it up how you like. You just don't care very much about people less fortunate than you. Have a nice day petal.

I also cried, with relief that Corbyn and Momentum won't be leading us into a communist state.

FFS. Why do people persist in stating that socialism and communism are the same thing? Some people might want to revisit their history lessons IMHO. It'll be 'reds under the beds' next.