Panorama( Young families Struggling)

[dottydodah]

Did anyone see this last evening? A lady with 2 small DC and a husband working as a Research Scientist was struggling with bills .Another young Mum in tears as her energy bill was so high.A third lady (working as a Nurse) not able to run a car. How will they manage to keep going? Surely Govt could do more?

Yes to the posters talking about CMS. My ex owes £600pm which includes some of his arrears. He does not pay and lives a life of wining and dining. I've switched to their collection service so it'll come out of his wage and hope this might fix it.

With this money, my DC would be taken above the poverty line. Without it, we are below the poverty line and I rely on milk tokens and barely eat myself to ensure DC fed and has what they need.

People can go without meat or fish for some meals surely? of course we go without meat and fish on some meals.
People are delusional- let me tell you a treat for your children maybe a trip to a theme park, or a day out at the zoo- for people on low incomes and struggling it’s an ice cream at the park or a hotdog for dinner- stop shaking your judgement fingers and saying “well they aren’t sucking on a lentil they aren’t that poor”.
And no maybe the parents depicted didn’t work full time- know why? The cost of childcare- the limited number of jobs with workable hours and perhaps because children need to see their parents during the day.

@crepesncream

When you've got old Etonians running the country we can't expect to live decently. They neither know nor care about us.

The thing about old Etonians is there are really very few of them. They are voted into power and kept there by the population at large, which is precisely why its not sensible to waste too much sympathy on the population at large. We pretty much get the government we deserve.

I was very concerned about Bethan, Rebecca's daughter.

She knew her mother was skipping meals and Bethan was doing the same so the younger two could have more.

So heartbreaking, this should not be happening.

metro.co.uk/2022/04/11/panorama-girl-admits-not-eating-so-younger-siblings-dont-go-hungry-16447525/

[quote Anystarinthesky]I was very concerned about Bethan, Rebecca's daughter.

She knew her mother was skipping meals and Bethan was doing the same so the younger two could have more.

So heartbreaking, this should not be happening.

metro.co.uk/2022/04/11/panorama-girl-admits-not-eating-so-younger-siblings-dont-go-hungry-16447525/[/quote]
I cried at that bit. Is this Britain? Have we been transported to the third world? Because that’s what it feels like.

I cried at a lot of it. What’s really terrible is that it’s going to get much, much worse.

[quote Anystarinthesky]I was very concerned about Bethan, Rebecca's daughter.

She knew her mother was skipping meals and Bethan was doing the same so the younger two could have more.

So heartbreaking, this should not be happening.

metro.co.uk/2022/04/11/panorama-girl-admits-not-eating-so-younger-siblings-dont-go-hungry-16447525/[/quote]
That's the bit that upset me.

Unfortunately children start even younger than that worrying about their family having money to pay the bills -
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59311895

I can remember as a child watching my parents count out their cash on the kitchen table to pay the rent. In those days you paid in cash at the counter in the council offices. I was always anxious that they wouldn’t have enough.
Kids these days shouldn’t be worrying about having enough food in the house. We gone back in time.

@mydogisthebest - have you taken lessons in sanctimonious behaviour, or does it just come naturally?

Surely it is obvious that you are getting on the collective nerves of the majority of posters on this thread with this "look at me, I am so capable and so perfect, why don't you all do as I do" attitude.

I’ve just seen this on iPlayer 🥲

Rebecca the nurse and her daughter Bethan who don’t always eat so the younger two kids can

Why isn’t she using a food bank - assume she is on uc as well so hopefully 2 younger kids will get fsm and reduction in council tax

Did she say she brought the shoes in Jan and by feb sole came
Off - why didn’t she take them back to the shop

£30 did seem expensive - shoe zone can be cheaper and do replace if they break before normal wear and tear - think they give a years guarantee

My 4yr dd trainers came unstuck at toe and I emailed and they sent out. Replacement

The lady who started own business last year. Madness to start a new one after the pandemic but esp what she is selling - that’s a niche and sadly not going to do well

I was suprised how much their heating bill went up from think £75 to £240 a month. Seemed very low to begin with

And the lovely man sorry can’t R.E.M. his name delivering food parcels and hats /gloves. He was lovely

I know there are so many threads about at the moment how some will survive and the heat or eat but really does bring it to home when you see a nurse for example who should be paid a decent wage - but isn’t - struggling

@Blondeshavemorefun

I’ve just seen this on iPlayer 🥲

Rebecca the nurse and her daughter Bethan who don’t always eat so the younger two kids can

Why isn’t she using a food bank - assume she is on uc as well so hopefully 2 younger kids will get fsm and reduction in council tax

Did she say she brought the shoes in Jan and by feb sole came
Off - why didn’t she take them back to the shop

£30 did seem expensive - shoe zone can be cheaper and do replace if they break before normal wear and tear - think they give a years guarantee

My 4yr dd trainers came unstuck at toe and I emailed and they sent out. Replacement

The lady who started own business last year. Madness to start a new one after the pandemic but esp what she is selling - that’s a niche and sadly not going to do well

I was suprised how much their heating bill went up from think £75 to £240 a month. Seemed very low to begin with

And the lovely man sorry can’t R.E.M. his name delivering food parcels and hats /gloves. He was lovely

I know there are so many threads about at the moment how some will survive and the heat or eat but really does bring it to home when you see a nurse for example who should be paid a decent wage - but isn’t - struggling

Being on Uc does not automatically qualify people for FSM. Income has to be under a certain amount I think which on 30 hours of a qualified Nurse salary is not likely to qualify. A top band 5 nurse is close to 30k full time, I think so not a bad wage although I appreciate she is not working full time. Maybe when her kids are a bit older she would be able to do a different Nursing job with unsocial hours which would pay significantly more. The problem for her is likely to be mortgage costs and an ex who doesn't pay any CM.

Ah @Babyroobs. Ok. I assumed as struggling so much that she may be entitled to if

Hence then would get some help with childcare costs

Guess a good thing eventually she won’t be paying a mortgage. Will have a forever roof over their heads

For FSM you need to be on an extremely low income. Something like 600 a month maximum. Whereas on tax credits it was more like 16K a year (much more per month)

For FSM you need to be on an extremely low income. Something like 600 a month maximum.*
Correct I googled this I was shocked that your salary had to be low to qualify.

If I was the nurse I would sell the house.. it's ridiculous because she's probably going to have to sell it in her old age to fund her care. The way she's struggling is extreme and its not fair on her kids.

This article is depressing and looks at the higher level effects rather than individual cases...thanks Tories:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/08/health-inequalities-uk-poverty-life-death

@Blondeshavemorefun

I'm always left with more questions on these sorts of things - normally why isn't the father paying for the kids (and why have so many kids in some cases if your income is marginal) why they need x, y &z as essentials (when my kids never got these), why don't they work full time but the biggest elephant in the room is normally that the person has significant debts, I was watching a thing on channel 4 and they had a £390 a month debt repayment, I couldn't cope with that on our much higher income - I save up/buy second hand/go without and never borrow except the mortgage hence driving an older car, sitting on a 6 year old sofa from Ikea, even our sheets are old ones from Dp's ex wife, she gave him a pile when he moved out.

I'm a debt counsellor and never say anything to clients but spend sessions biting my lip especially session 2 when they admit to spending x between the sessions which are completely frivolous. I'm more and more convinced easy credit and feckless men not paying child support are the main reasons for poverty not wages per se

The Tories also don't seem to believe in relative poverty. This has many psychological effects especially on young people and life opportunities.

[quote gogohm]@Blondeshavemorefun

I'm always left with more questions on these sorts of things - normally why isn't the father paying for the kids (and why have so many kids in some cases if your income is marginal) why they need x, y &z as essentials (when my kids never got these), why don't they work full time but the biggest elephant in the room is normally that the person has significant debts, I was watching a thing on channel 4 and they had a £390 a month debt repayment, I couldn't cope with that on our much higher income - I save up/buy second hand/go without and never borrow except the mortgage hence driving an older car, sitting on a 6 year old sofa from Ikea, even our sheets are old ones from Dp's ex wife, she gave him a pile when he moved out.

I'm a debt counsellor and never say anything to clients but spend sessions biting my lip especially session 2 when they admit to spending x between the sessions which are completely frivolous. I'm more and more convinced easy credit and feckless men not paying child support are the main reasons for poverty not wages per se [/quote]
I'm not sure I agree or that a few people coming to a debt service are representative. Poor people are often forced onto expensive credit. If life feels hopeless I certainly wouldn't begrudge someone buying something, even 'frivolous' which is subjective.

We seem to be back to the logic of deserving and undeserving poor (almost always the later). But surely these days everybody should be able to have a comfortable life and not just a meagre existence of basic survival without being judged.

@Lennybenny

I've just watched this... a few things struck me as I'm a single parent with kids. Firstly....one of the kids was eating Branded food before eating a meal, a nurse is on good money and she could work more hours but chooses to use a childminder. The self employed woman with her shop...she opened it 6 months ago in a time of financial uncertainty. If she's that stressed....work another job. Who works in an art gallery? Seriously if you're struggling get a full time job or work more hours. £75 a month going to £240....they weren't paying enough to start off with so that wasn't just the increases. There are a lot of options to help and I do think this show didn't really represent the right people.

Nail in the head. All the jobs apart from the radiologist were crap. The basic are, the families needed more income, arsing about in a niche shop and farting about in an art gallery aren't going to cut it. They all need either better paid jobs or extra income from secondary jobs.

The RS also needed to swap his car to a more fuel efficient one for his long commute. I also think some people need to learn how to cook properly. The teen-ager needs to look after the other two.
The boomers scoff because they've walked this path and there's no answer other than to work.

As for the food banks, charity, take it, it's free.

I have a friend single mum, during covid her business revenue fell, so she started as a health care, now covid has settled she's doing both as her clients have returned.

True about debts

Would have been helpful to see what she earnt

What bills she was paying out for do how much for water ct g&e internet phones food etx

And any debts or credit cards etx

I didn’t notice branded food

I understand some parents can’t afford to eat and their child 🥲 but equally a loaf of bread 50p and 4 tins of beans 89p so boring but equally filling beans on toast as a meal or 5

We're family of 4, we spend 50 on food.
We have good incomes, but Dp is frugal to the nth degree.
We shop at Aldi.
She works a second job, sometimes we don't finish till 11pm...

@Hrpuffnstuff1

We're family of 4, we spend 50 on food. We have good incomes, but Dp is frugal to the nth degree. We shop at Aldi. She works a second job, sometimes we don't finish till 11pm...

We’re a family of 4- aldi shoppers, used to spend £70-£80 now £100 a wk- how the hell do you do £50 a wk I don’t buy alcohol- shampoos aren’t included-???

She's very very very frugal.
We've spent £90 this week to host us 4 and 7 other family members.🤣🤣

I've watched this and it's been stuck in my mind for a while. Normally we are more familiar with families on benefits that are struggling or when something happens and the benefits doesn't come through quickly enough but these were families with two working parents struggling except the nurse. Normally, the art gallery worker and the niche shop owner would use their money to pay for holidays, their own expenses/children's day trip expenses as just an extra income as this is what we are used to. We are literally f over for many reasons:

1. we are f'd because one full time job isn't enough to cover shelter, food and heating and now even having a second job doesn't help.

2. childcare is extortionate in this country and they want us to have a second job okay but provide nothing for childcare for the second parent to go into work until the child turns 2 and even that, the childcare hours doesn't cover full time work and when you are part time, you are still f'd over.

3. No real crackdown over child maintenance. So many absent fathers who don't contribute to their offspring leaving the woman in a vulnerable position-unable to work due to point 2 and even if they do work, it goes on to point 1 where it's still not enough.

We are lacking shortage in skilled work and what kind of message are these leaders sending to the younger generation where a uni degree that costs thousands of pounds will only graduate you into a miserable life counting pennies.

That saying, we only have jobs that are a available in the service sector. I have friends who take part time jobs during the day and a few hours in the evening when the oh arrives to takeover bath time and bedtime for the kids. So part time receptionist job in the day until 1pm and from 6pm-10pm working at a local restaurant. Of course this isn't possible for single parents which goes back to how f'd up this whole thing is.

@GreenNewDealNow

Conservatism doesn't seem to have solutions. I am confused as growing up, Conservatives promised that you will be OK if you work hard. It is very strange.

Yes, except it is not very strange, it is a con because people who benefit most from conservatism would lose loads of money if the alternatives gained popular support.