Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Lives of poor families in Britain

Although many believe that the poor incomes classes are drug addicts or just too lazy to get off their bum to be a proper tax paying citizen, for many it is a part of a vicious cycle that repeats itself generation after generation.
The Guardian had published a wonderful piece that gives you an idea how this may be.

Its a detailed story about a single mother with two children, whose father have left them earlier on - not that she was a teenage mother who didn't know better, but whose relationship really just ended. She herself was also a child of a single mother, didn't succeed in graduating highschool, and no career experience to name. She lives off government benefit, she doesn't have enough money to buy fresh fruit and veg, since they can go bad.

"She hates to be cast as "the stereotypical single mum on benefits, sitting on my bum living off other people's taxes". She points out that she was in a serious relationship when she had her children. "I wasn't young and foolish. Their father had a job," she says. Since he abandoned them he has paid no maintenance,"

"It would be nice, on occasion, to buy them something on a whim - treats, cakes and biscuits. But if you do, you know you're going to have to turn the heating off," she says

"Everyone is trying their best for their family. Some mothers are growing marijuana in their flats and dealing drugs on the side. They do it because they think it is the only way to give their children a better life," she says, without passing judgment. Other mothers regularly pop into Morrisons to steal stuff they can sell, to supplement their income."

"There is a stigma attached to this area. The teachers think that the children from here are all thick and they don't bother with them. I'm worried that my daughter won't do as well as she could. She's a clever little girl but all that's offered is a basic level of learning,"


For more click here.

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