famous, rich and hungry for sport relief

[misstiredbuthappy]

Anybody watching ? I watched it last year realy hit a nerve with me.

Whine- I wasn't taken in by sob stories. I run an employability programme in one of the most economically deprived areas of the uk, with the highest teen pregnancy rate in Europe and where the life expectancy is 63. I KNOW what life in poverty is like. I know how many end up in huge debt because they have no other option but to be because there is no money to buy a fridge, or a bed, or a cooker. And yes- many smoke, however more often than not it is a crux to help with the crippling mental health issues brought on by being poor. Properly poor. And they can't escape as they can't get jobs, not because they don't want to but because they simply do not have the capacity to for a whole host of reasons. I couldn't give a shit if they have a big tv bought on credit as they don't understand APR, because I wouldn't swap my life for the world.

marriage means nothing, just fighting over assets - once you get the dog, man gets the sky tv, you still got no money.

i stopped smoking without aid doesn't mean every one else can. i wont judge them because of this.

scarlettsmummy2 thank you - you've expressed exactly what I feel. I volunteer with people who have myriad problems and are entangled in a web of debt. Inevitably some of them have better technology than me.

As if for one minute this would make them better off than me. What crap-I live in a beautiful area with outstanding schools, I have a house full of books and broccoli, everyone we know has professional jobs that require higher education. A child with exactly the same iq as mine would have a very different future if they were born over the river where I volunteer.

The area where I do my day (paid job) is very different from where I live too. If I didn't left the confines of my area I wouldn't believe the childhood (or adult) obesity stats -where I live all the kids do after school activities and all the adults are gym bunnies. At work I'm dealing with kids who have to care for their sick mum or asd sibling before they even get themselves ready for school.I know this could happen where I live too, but I also know that my kids have parents who haven't got debt to deal with alongside their asd sibling.

It's like some people expect these people to pay penance for being dealt the shittiest hand in this country. Or be meek because they are poor. I view the fags and the tvs as 2 fingers up to the loan sharks, energy companies and target based benefit agencies who fuck them over on a regular basis.

Having seen poverty where barefoot kids queue for broken biscuits to eat, those saying Sky and fags are acceptable over CHOOSING to feed your kids disgusts me beyond belief.

Get a fucking grip.

Wow there are some really nasty people/comments on this threads. No humanity at all. This kind of TV prog seems to bring out the haters and fire them up so they can justify their hatred, Tory TV!

Empathy fail on this thread.

Some of you excusing buying fags over food - shame on you. Those poor children dont even have your support.That is reseved for their feckless parents. I have empathy for the children.They have no choice, their parents do.

George and David will be rubbing their hands in glee reading this.

Of course we are not excusing fags over food! We are simply stating that it is much more complex than that. If you had any concept of the long list of problems some very poor people had, you would realise that cigarettes were the least of it. My support workers are dealing with issues such as domestic violence, child hood sexual abuse, debt, huge health esteem issues, mental health issues, problems with their children and many other things. I honestly can't believe some of the shit lives people lead, which often need to be sorted out before they can contemplate tackling an addiction such as smoking.

House full of books and broccoli - great expression!

There have always been feckless idiots though who can't manage their money and fritter it on non-essentials rather than feeding/clothing their family. They were around when my mum grew up, I remember them from my own childhood (often knocking on our door asking for 50p for the leccy meter, not because we had more money, but because my parents managed theirs better and didn't waste a penny on non-essentials) and they still exist now. Its not Tory rhetoric, it's real life.

You want to see real poverty, go to the Third World. Closer to home, read a book like Angela's Ashes. That's what it's like to be poor. Fags, internet, sky tv, phones, new clothes do not mean poverty.

eople like those featured last night could be much better off if they made better choices. As it is, they are failing their children. Just like parents of the kids I grew up with failed theirs.

I never thought I'd say this, but even taking into account the fag money, it's not nearly enough to lift them out of poverty.

Lona sharks should be banned. Ciggies should be banned.

But most of all, we need to use the power of the vote to enusre that no govt sets a benefit level so low that people can't afford to eat.

I can't put it better than that velvet.

Poverty is NOT having choices - not making the wrong ones.

It wouldn't matter how much money you gave to some people, they'd still spunk it on crap. You only have to look at bankrupt lottery winners to see that.
Poverty here is not lack of money it's lack of foresight, intelligence and decision making.

Only 2 of the adults smoked last night- one of them only had adult children, so why the focus on the programme showing adults choosing to smoke over buying food?

Possibly because so many people on low incomes do smoke that they representative? 85% of those in the lowest socio economic group smoke compared with 13 % in the highest.
Carly had the skin and teeth of a smoker too.

It was similar on Benefits Street if I recall. White Dee was almost chain smoking.

It was the fact that the chap was on benefits as he couldn;t work because of a collapsed lung and he was a smoker. Really, words fail.

"words fail me" Well I'm glad about that Whine. Shame you can't apply that to the whole subject.

What these shows never fucking show is how average poor people deal with life.

Im not an idiot. I fell pregnant young because life is a bitch sometimes and it was too late for a nice neat abortion but I love my son and make the best of a bad situation. Knowing how crap it is to be poor in this country nearly drove me to suicide. Twice. Purely from desperation. We eat healthy food on the cheap and if we run low when I need gas or food etc I just sell stuff. Not that I have much but it's a no brainer.

If Id rather go hungry and smoke (but keep my son well fed) then that's still no one's bloody business.

It's shows like that which make you feel like some circus sideshow. The poor are becoming second class citizens and seriously, shame on all of those with this attitude.

If Id rather go hungry and smoke (but keep my son well fed) then that's still no one's bloody business.

But it is our business when it is pn pblic television and it is our business when choosing to smoke over choosing to eat means that you need to use foodbanks which are provided by the community.

I woudl say that recent programmes on the subject are fairly representative of poor people, actually. Benefits are sufficient but not if you have debt or an expensive hobby/habit.

Poverty is relative, if you are choosing between heat and food, or not eating to feed your child you are are in poverty .

Maybe everyone just needs to take responsibility for their own actions and lives?

If you have a child young and single that is absolutely your choice but you know life ain't gonna be a bed of roses. So make a different choice ( and yes - free contraception, free MAP, free abortion , free adoption , free abstention - it's a choice even though the alternative may be unsavoury to you , it;s a choice). Most of the wealthy people I know have made similar choices : they have children later within marriage, they sacrifce in the early years to build for the future , they save and they have foresight .

Poverty is relative, if you are choosing between heat and food, or not eating to feed your child you are are in poverty .

Are you still in poverty if you choose between fags and food?

Am I in poverty if I choose to buy a porsche but then moan I can't feed my kids?

And as for you, Whine , ..........

No they may not choose to be in 'poverty' but really show some backbone. Put kids before fags, make an effort.