Rachel Reeves should read this reminder of life on the breadline that I found in The Big Issue. It rings true to my own experiences, but I think economists are doing their best to ignore the facts.

The piece was written by a person called Izzy who has a husband and child, and both she and her partner have pension-age parents who can help them [hence the featured image] – but they are still struggling to stay out of debt.

Here are some of her main points:

We live month to month, fighting all the time to get out of debt.

We struggle and have to think about every payment and how we will afford extras. These are the kinds of things that people not on the breadline, who can save for a rainy day, take for granted like meals out, treats, multiple clubs and lessons for their children, gym memberships, holidays. It causes us sleepless nights and we worry about our son, his education and his future.

We’ve had some really difficult experiences to cope with – notice of redundancy three times due to lack of funding for public service employers, problems with my son’s nursery care and struggling to get a diagnosis for additional needs which took 19 months. It’s a huge postcode lottery.

Izzy goes on to discuss what – in her experience – would make life easier. It should be no surprise that much of it involves benefits and healthcare:

Free school meals, which were made universal for primary school children in Wales, have made a huge difference for our family in the last year and a half. It saves us around £50 per month. This is money we can use instead for petrol and public transport for our work commute, grocery shopping and heating.

We also need ready access to benefits. There should be much better information and support to claim, and the forms should be easy to fill in and available in every format.

People need easy access to food banks. We know these are not ideal, since they too are dehumanising and more of a sticking-plaster than a long-term solution through welfare support. While they remain the only option for many, they should at least be readily available and easily accessible.

Every town, city and village should have access to warm spaces and free second-hand clothes banks, especially for school uniforms and outfits for job interviews.

People should be able to access free NHS dentistry easily in their town.

Commuting to work is so expensive. What is wrong with heavily-subsidised transport and fuel costs so that people can actually get to work? I have had commutes of up to four hours a day in the past, just so I can continue using my qualifications after redundancy and serve the public.

We need accessible healthcare with no waiting lists for mental health or additional learning needs assessments. Every single child and young person who is diagnosed with learning needs or a disability or medical condition should be able to access proper funding and support at school.

And carers should be helped to pay bills, heat their homes, and run required medical machinery. There should be just fewer hoops to jump through with everything because it’s exhausting and dehumanising.

These are the changes that would make a real difference to the UK’s economy – because they would empower people to get jobs and keep them.

Instead, Rachel Reeves, Liz Kendall and the rest of Keir Starmer’s cabal sit dicking around with plans to cut benefits – which won’t help anyone.

Source: I have sleepless nights worrying about debt and the cost of living

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