To think my kids have no chance in life?!

[Paparazzicrap]

Today, I had to make a choice between putting the gas back on (so kids were warm and could eat) and buying my DD the pair of shoes she desperately needs for school (hers are too small and have a hole in, it's pissing down here.)
I chose the shoes and set DCs to my parents for an impromptu sleepover.
If this is life in a 2 parent, working family, what hope do the next generation have??

You’re so fortunate to have the option of grandparents nearby. Also pretty amazing to find little ways to make things work with having 2 little ones. The economic situation would sound pretty unbelievable if mentioned 5 years ago… so it’s tough for most. Take it a day at a time, a challenge at a time.. and today counts as a total win

I wonder the same and live in hope at the same time. I'm a lone parent and am finding life excruciatingly hard to enjoy.

Call your gas and electric supplier and tell them you can't afford to pay the bills. They'll more likely than not be able to work something out for you.

There is always always hope, I really believe that. History always has rises and dips, and they’ll have their own too. I’m sure every generation has asked that exact question!!

Life is gotten a lot harder for a lot of people. I don't have any answers but it's not unreasonable of you to be worried for the future or frankly pissed off that life is this hard.

Your kids have no chance is too far. I don't know how to phrase it exactly but the next generation are maybe probably the first in recent history to have it harder than their parents with less opportunities.

Thing is it’s not the same situation in all two parent working families, or other families either, so your DC might not be in the same situation when they are adults. Give them every opportunity you can and encourage them.

At least they have their grandparents and parents who care enough to send them their!

We were poor as kids and this type of thing was normal and we didn’t question it - yes we were cold at times and meals were basic, but we had each other and I certainly had the drive to do better and want better.
My sisters studied later in life and now both have degrees and well paying jobs.

Other family members had everything on a plate and swish through life with no purpose.

Where there’s a will there’s a way!

There is always hope for future improvement, OP.
My parents grew up in slums with no flush toilet, just a bucket in an outside earth midden.
When I was a student I spent years in a crumbling tenement, with just a paraffin heater for warmth. The water froze in the toilet pan on winter nights, we had mice and dry rot, and had to stuff rags in the holes round the windows to block the drafts. But I survived, and now have a warm centrally heated house, and my adult children are home owners with good jobs.
Make sure your children study hard and either learn a trade or get a degree, and they will do fine.

That’s really shit OP. I’m very sorry.

I hope things get better for you, not to mention the next generation.

If you know you are claiming anything you can, have you also investigated other help like community larders, and organisations that can help with kids’ clothes and Christmas presents? It’s ridiculous it’s come to this I know.

I second talking to your gas and electric provider.

There is always hope.
And yes life is hard, but also, it could always be worse. If it helps to have a silver lining, experiencing hardship makes the good times all the sweeter as we never take them for granted. I hope your children will grow to be adults in better times just over the horizon (we certainly are overdue for a streak of good fortune that’s for sure).

I choose heating and sent my dd Into school In her trainers. This way she has footwear that fit with no holes on and comes home to a warmish home.

I think we are in the thick of a really shitty time right now. I can't really afford to heat the house. It's set to 15 but ticks along at 14. The heating system then decided to break. Today I had to pay £250;to get it fixed. I was juggling my money and will put this on credit card but pay it off before its due. What gets me through is thinking this will pass as I'm sure it will. If my youngest two needs shoes I get them on Vinted now. Dd hasn't had any new shoes since pre covid. I know things will get better. If I didn't it would all feel a bit hopeless.

There are many examples of hugely successful people who come from poverty stricken backgrounds.

Being a working single parent with no parents to help is pretty tough also.

Who knows where your family really are in the how difficult is my life because of money chart. There will be many better off and many worse off that read your post.

What sort of skills do you and your partner have and what sort of aptitude for anything have your children shown?

This isn’t permanent. The economy will pick up. There are some predictions that inflation will peak before Christmas. Mortgage rates are already coming down. Energy costs are a shitshow and I think we’re in for the long haul on that one but they will come down (relative to income) eventually.

I wouldn’t worry about “the next generation” in terms of cost of living. That’s an invented and unnecessary concern. The crisis is now.

There are other issues for them, particularly climate change, but the economy will bob up and down multiple times in their lives.

I completely get it, but it is temporary. It feels like it isn’t, but it is.

Speak to school about the shoes, most schools that I am involved with have some spare items of uniform and shoes to help families with the COL crisis. They may be able to help. I’ve donated items of shoes that were worn for one term before covid, many people did at our school. Always worth asking, don’t be embarrassed, many school staff are on the same boat financially too.