How the other half live

[MollieO]

Bit of a tv evening for me tonight! Anyone else watching?

they were working poor expat, the dad was a bus driver

Gosh from what PP charge he must be seriously loaded .

they were working poor, expat. dad was a bus driver, taking home two eighty a week. i didn't understand any of the other figures though, apparently they had more coming in.

The trust fund said it all - the rich family want to help the children but don't trust the parents....
Mind you, Zelda was not exactly a good advert for her skin cream was she?

I don't get the sleeping arrangement either, unless it was only a 1 bedroom flat and the little boy shared with his parents? (did not see the start of the programme)

Either way, last week's seemed genuine, this week's seemed a bit money-grabbing-ish. Sadly.

Oh, this bought tears to my eyes. That Brandon boy is lovely and thoughtful, thought the stepdad was nice but mum was so selfish to even consider a laptop...was very upset when they only bought him a pc game and then it didnt work.

The other family were lovely to help them..and make sure the boys were looked after with trust fund..otherwise mum would prob have spent it all on herself

It makes me think what poverty means in the UK. It is obviously different to third world poverty but I am interested to know what level of income is judged at being poverty or not.

It mentioned the mother's benefits on top of the father's wages, making a total of £413 per week. (it think?)

I assume that younger boy is son of stepdad and mum and that Brandon is son of mum only? Makes me wonder what sort of life he had before she met stepdad. Poor lad.

sorry, that was in response to Aitch..

£21,476 pa. Seems high to be classed as poverty level.

but then isn't that the interesting thing, that we aren't sainted through poverty? those people came from pretty similar backgrounds, in a way, it was entrepreneurship, hard work and luck that got them out of it. if zelda felt that she could have been one of them, however deluded she was, then perhaps she had some sense of peership with them and an accompanying sense of entitlement?

Why the hell were they in the shop selling computers if they weren't going to buy one??? And why can't Brandon use the game on the laptop? And if it is broken, why didn't they take it back and exchange it?

Yes, I too can be selfish, but if I were being filmed for this programme and I was spending someone elses money I would have definitely spent more wisely.

My judgey fingers point straight at the monther as I do believe she wanted to milk as much as she could out of them (the 'yay' when the holiday was announced spoke volumes to me).

Aitch maybe but what sort of parent buys a laptop above clothing her children?

it depends on the definition, i think some indexes say it's an income less than the average. (although what is the average, i thought it was about eighteen?)

Mollie, is anyone earning below that classed as living in poverty?
Holy guacomoly - we are only just above that then....

It's certainly way above the minimum wage.

Can't see Zelda being that successful in business given that she seems to lack basic budgeting skills...

I hope to god Brandon sees what he can achieve and get away from his letch of a mum.

It's made me want to go and hug my kids.

So his bus driver wages must be below that - £15,000?

Would you buy home made skin cream from her? I wouldn't.

Oh, and PMSL at the Zelda/skincare comments. My eyes nearly popped out on stalks when she came out with that gem.

Neither would I TheMoon... And where was she going to get these skincreams from? Was she going to make them (where, with what, how?) or buy them wholesale and re-market them (again where, financed how?)

i wonder how they choose the people to go on these shows? there must have been other people that needed the money more/would have used it more wisely

Don't know. Maybe it is a question of priorities. I don't have a large tv, wii, sky etc that lots of people (not on poverty line) consider to be essential. I'm trying to economise so bought a tent to do camping holidays this summer and probably spent on kit what I'd usually spend on two nights in a hotel.

Just wanted to add - I really really liked busdriver dad. He seemed genuine and kind and lovely and trying hard.
But Zelda scared me. She seemed money-grabbing, not genuine, selfish.
The little boy seemed cute ina typical cute toddler way, but Brandon has stolen my heart. He is adorable, gorgeous, lovely and could come and live here anytime (would have to share a bedroom with ds though)

Quite about the "shocking" fact that 95% of families in poverty don't have an annual holiday. We don't have a holiday every year (haven't been abroad for quite a few) but I consider our lives as comfortable. Is an annual holiday really that essential?