How the other half live

[expatinscotland]

TBH, I've never seen this.

Is it like Wife Swap?

the mum doesn't seem very grateful.

i thought she would have been glad of the chance to clear out all that rubbish and decorate. she seemed to be expecting them to give her a new house.

RunawayWife, happy ending

They have provided that family with a way to help themselves out of the poverty trap. I expected it to feel uncomfortable, but it didn't.

She has trashed her house!

I do have to wonder why she keeps having children that she says she doesn't have room for

Anyways, what we watching next then ladies?

StrictlyTory - that is a horrible thing to say! They were lovely kids - a credit to their mum (even if she was a bit whingey)

She might have had depression, who knows.

Some people think that having more and more children is a sure-fire way of getting a bigger house. Even some very well-educated people I know think this is the case.

I didn't say anything about the children themselves! The point is, if you can't afford to look after your children to a level you are happy with you dont keep having them.

At some point you need to take a good hard look at your life. If you have 3 children in a 2 bed house with no spare room at all you do not decide to have more! It is not in the interests of the new babies or the exisiting ones. Oh and yes I do relaise she didn'd decide to have twins. However I do not think she's helping herself. She could have kept that house in a much better condition.

"I do have to wonder why she keeps having children that she says she doesn't have room for"

How horribly "Daily Mail" of you. You don't know her circumstances one jot.

I know she lives in a 2 bed house which she says it too small for her to live with her husband.... I think there should be an element of common sense there.

We live in a 3 bed house, one of the bedrooms is a box room. I could have 8 children but if I did I know that they would have to live in a much less than ideal way so I decide not to. I think thats the choice most people make tbh. You have the number of children you can afford to feed, house and clothe.

Strictly Tory: Maybe if you are so entrenched in the daily misery of your life then things that come as natural for us don't hold much sway.

I think it's quite insulting for people that are not in the situation that she is in to comment on her way of life when they don't have to live it day in and day out.

You have no idea how you would be if you hit rock bottom and are living on precisely no money.

This is exactly why I don't really rate these programs. The entire premise is sensationilist and doesn't stay true to the original idea.

I'm always torn on these issues tbh, two children two bedrooms, I think my children deserve space and privacy and a decent standard of living much as I'd love a third.

I'm coming up to 40 and if our housing exchange falls through, no DC3 but it's a matter of personal choice I suppose, and maybe background. Overcrowding is normal to some people, it wasn't when I was growing up.

She will be getting more benefits if the partner is 'allegedly' not living in the house. As she will be classed as a single mum. I think it goes on quite a lot that a partner 'pretends' to be living somewhere else. Tis a benefits scam.

'StrictlyTory - that is a horrible thing to say! They were lovely kids - a credit to their mum (even if she was a bit whingey)'

How is it awful to say that a woman with 3 children, living in appalling conditions and surviving on benefits should not have more babies?
Seems like common sense to me.

If I were in her position I would have had a coil, been on the pill and using condoms after the third.
And once the girl was at school she could retrain or look into work, voluntary or paid.

But unfortunately she put a selfish and thoughtless desire for a big family above the welfare of her existing children.

Yes, the children were lovely but their potential has been stunted by their parents.

I agree Milady, children do deserve a certain standard of living. I understand that it is very hard when you really really want another child but at come point you have to think of the children you do have.

If I had only 2 bedrooms and no money I would not have more children. The children I already have deserve better than that.

I also really really want a BMW X3, however I understand that to afford the replayments every month would mean not being able to afford food and bills, so I make the decision not to buy one. In life we cannot always have everything we want.

You have to take some responisbility for the decisions you make in your own life.

I can't bear all the 'ooh how Daily Mail of you' posts when someone dares to state the bloody obvious

she might have depression etc etc
all the usual excuses being trotted out

to have so many children in such deprived circumstances is irresponsible
depressed or not

The father did work, it said if I remember right that he'd lost his job.

I think she wanted a big family as she'd been brought up by relatives - not sure what happened to her parents, they weren't on the scene.

They were lovely kids but I really felt sorry for the boy, having to live in those conditions. Was great that at the end, he had a chance to train in something he was good at and interested in.

Maybe the rich people should have just given her some contraception instead of paint, paintbrushes and/or money? Hmmm, don't think that would have made as great viewing....

Sometimes I find mumsnet makes me argue just for the sake of it. xxx

TSC it's oly 5 kids. there are 7 of them in total including mum and dad.

i didn't mean i meant