Life in real poverty is not what you’ve been told

Last Updated: February 25, 2016By

minimum-wage-poverty

Kathleen Kerridge’s family food budget is £40 per week – to feed five people.

She says there is a big gap between the public perception of poverty and what it means for people like her. We should stop talking about poverty, she argues, until we know what being poor in this country really means.

This is a short film, published by The Guardian, which should at least make everyone watching it think seriously about their own beliefs and – perhaps – prejudices.

This Writer would be interested to read what the Tories who read Vox Political have to say about it.

Here’s the film:

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5 Comments

  1. Dez February 25, 2016 at 11:57 am - Reply

    Good piece…..and heard it so many times from friends and family struggling at the same level but at the same time from wealthier friends their main gripe is the increase in prices of their favourite bottle of expensive tipples and school fees. Yes the divide has grown to a huge wide gap and the bitterness at the unfairness is becoming more vocal and angry….their is definitely something brewing out there unfortunately the lemming Cons have still got their head where the sun does not shine.

  2. Joan Edington February 25, 2016 at 1:11 pm - Reply

    I doubt very much if this would affect any Tory reader. From the fact that she is well-spoken and cleanly dressed, they would just assume that she is an actress, like the ones they use for their own propaganda. To them, poverty only affects “the great unwashed herd” that they they don’t give a —- about.

  3. John February 25, 2016 at 8:06 pm - Reply

    Although she does describe the ‘meal planner’, I wouldn’t mind actually seeing the breakdown of the food bill, and where she shops etc. Everyone’s definition of poverty is always going to be different, we all have our own ideas etc. Of course, how much you spend/save depends entirely on your own personal circumstances, and your own ability to be able to understand HOW to save in the first place. I’ll give you one example of even worse ‘poverty’ (depending on how you look at it), those migrant people living in tents in Calais.

    • Mike Sivier February 26, 2016 at 2:06 am - Reply

      Of course the relevant words are “worse poverty”. Both are in poverty – that suffered by those in Calais is simply more extreme.

  4. Malcolm MacINTYRE-READ March 3, 2016 at 7:00 pm - Reply

    The Con Gov’s policy, spearheaded, naturally, by IDS, to reduce the ESA benefit by £30 is a natural development in their determination to achieve their strategic aim… starve the “scroungers” to death… while also reducing the oh so heavy taxation of the rich.

    I suppose it will save on the gas.

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