AIBU to be sad and shocked by this article?

[LittleDorrit]

Have just been reading this:

www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/mar/18/child-poverty-labour-eradicate-promise

and I am shocked by the conditions this family is living in, but in particular how little/what sort of food they are able to afford.

It's not so much an AIBU issue, but just wondered whether others in similarly difficult circumstances think this is typical, or whether the mother could try to buy other types of food (e.g. rice, lentils, etc.) or perhaps be able to afford to spend a bigger proportion of her budget on food... £20 is very little.

Fucking hell.

What an awful thread.

Ahhh Elf
actually I look back with some fondness to the days when life seemed about easy choices.

god mumsnet is full of cunts nowadays.

god mumsnet is full of cunts nowadays.

can we have a vomit emoticon?

HBLB- I was just about to say it was full of smug twats, but your description seems much more apt.

but surely Fio's situation is no different if you're saying they should have money to be able to provide for a child (which of course defining the amount you need to earn to be able to provide is like asking how long is a piece of string).

Fio obvious hadn't thought through the possibilities of having a child with disabilities, so therefore couldn't afford her child.........

Daftpunk you are coming across as bonkers frankly.

Lou is right, you are lucky, not clever. (Er. Not to say you're not clever, I mean that's not the defining characteristic in this context, although to be fair the refusal to accept that people's circumstances can change is not the brightest thing I've ever seen)

Crap stuff happens to clever people as well as thick people, generally I don't think bad luck feels the need to make a distinction between people's levels of intelligence.

The only advantage clever people have is that it may be easier for them to escape from a shit situation.

I'm reasonably clever. Have had my son quite young but we are/were in a position to support ourselves financially. If DP decides to up and leave tomorrow, leaving me, as a sahm, pretty much dependant on the state to help me get back on my feet, will I automatically become stupid? I don't think so.

Er, no daftpunk, it makes you lucky.

If you can't see that, then I am afraid you are not very clever at all.

FAQ I don't have reliable childcare solutions either, you just do your best, my hubby's wages or benefits which ever only go so far so you make the most of it.

And with respect I was an undergraduate student with nobody but myself to feed and clothe and didn't exactly live the high life, if you're doing an OU degree then that'll be free of charge, you won't be incurring debts and your life won't be much different to any other student.

at lou33 and fiofio.

Although i have no idea why i'm grinning away after reading some of the shite being spouted on this thread.

The woman described in the article doesn't smoke/drink/take drugs. One of her children has special needs, she is living in a sparsely furnished council flat on one of the roughest estates in the UK.
And she is being slated on here by people who seem to have absolutely no idea of what real life is like for the poorest in the UK.

I've been abjectly poor, when my dd was born i was in the red each week. I worked but earnt less than my very basic outgoings. I had no internet, no telephone, no maintenence and no access to proper advise.

I am now well off and thank my lucky stars each day that i no longer live in a bedsit with my dd with mould on the walls and having to get into bed as soon as we get home because i had no money for heating.

Articles like the one in the op really sadden me, attitudes like some displayed on here sadden me even more.

To me, the whole problem here is that we don't raise men to have any kind of honour and integrity.

Too many of them think that they have the right to get a woman pregnant and then financially abandon her and the children while moving on with another girl to start a new family. Then they will probably abandon those kids when they get sick of their current partner and want to move on again. It's criminal.

When a woman is at the stage of her life when she has young children it is so hard for her to work etc. Being a lone parent and working and supporting children alone is almost impossible I think. I don't know how I would manage to work like I do if I didn't have my children's father supporting me every step of the way. He is always there to pick the kids up and do homework with them etc if I am working.

I feel bad for these women. I know I would not cope one bit.

OU degrees aren't free.

And, I think a single mother doing a degree from home, whilst struggling to feed and clothe her children will lead a very different life to your average student.

I have a fairly pleasant life.

But if DP upped and jaunted off (like many other feckless, scrotes passing themselves off as 'men), then make no bones about it- I would be royally fucked.

'there but for the grace of God go I' should be a mantra for all.

Ou degree's are free if your income is below a certain level actually.

In fact there are at least £500 of grants to be claimed whilst doing your free OU degree.

Masters is different, it's only under graduate degree's which are free to those earning less than £15k I think.

when I say "reliable" - I mean after school care for over 8's - where I have one option available to me in the entire town - which has a 2yr waiting list..........

I'm not paying a penny for my OU course, and indeed even if I was working at the moment in a low paid job I'd almost certainly still get it for free too.