There has been a bit of a debate going on in the body of the forum, the subject of which is Child Benefit.
The cap on benefits seems to causing howls of indignation and protest from those families who are in receipt of such benefits.
I remember growing up in poverty.
It has given me a very healthy regard for money, budgeting and making do and mending.
I have frequently referred to myself as a Frugal Freda.
So it was painful to watch the panorama program on the benefit cuts.
I had not intended to be watching that program as I know such things get me mad...raise my blood pressure and at my age, this is not good.
The parents of these families were not working and hasn't worked for quite a while.
They bemoaned the fact that they were in poverty, but smoked, drank, had video games to divert their attention from the realities of their life...and seemed somehow to think that their poverty was the goverments problem.
They failed to see their hand in the cause of their poverty.
They were threatened with eviction, but the daddy still had his £40 fags and beer.
When I was growing up in the late forties, both my parents went out to work, ( although for a time my father was ill with something sustained during the D Day landings)but we were still poor. There was not the same welfare support.
OK we got clinic orange juice and cod liver oil.
There was some family allowance, but it was not much.
We got free school meals and a very kind cook shop owner saved our bacon more than once by giving Ma left over cooked grub....pies, boiled spuds, mushy peas, she also gave us stale bread which we ate as pobs. Wherever you are now Mrs Almond, I salute you for your kindness.
We lived pretty much week to week. By that I mean that by Thursday Ma's purse was empty...and there was precious little food in the pantry.
During one of these very thin patches I was caught putting butter and jam on a slice of bread.
I was told in no uncertain terms that this was 'greedy'.
I could have butter, or I could have jam on my bread. I could not have both.
I asked Ma if it would be greedy to have two slices of bread as I planned to share it with my brother Philip...she said that this was OK.
So I put butter on one slice, jam on the other and slapped them both together.
For every problem there is a solution...if you are prepared to look for it.
Oh, yes and before any of you out there think we were posh having jam...it was the mixed fruit flavour...it had no real flavour it just tasted sweet and red.
The cap on benefits seems to causing howls of indignation and protest from those families who are in receipt of such benefits.
I remember growing up in poverty.
It has given me a very healthy regard for money, budgeting and making do and mending.
I have frequently referred to myself as a Frugal Freda.
So it was painful to watch the panorama program on the benefit cuts.
I had not intended to be watching that program as I know such things get me mad...raise my blood pressure and at my age, this is not good.
The parents of these families were not working and hasn't worked for quite a while.
They bemoaned the fact that they were in poverty, but smoked, drank, had video games to divert their attention from the realities of their life...and seemed somehow to think that their poverty was the goverments problem.
They failed to see their hand in the cause of their poverty.
They were threatened with eviction, but the daddy still had his £40 fags and beer.
When I was growing up in the late forties, both my parents went out to work, ( although for a time my father was ill with something sustained during the D Day landings)but we were still poor. There was not the same welfare support.
OK we got clinic orange juice and cod liver oil.
There was some family allowance, but it was not much.
We got free school meals and a very kind cook shop owner saved our bacon more than once by giving Ma left over cooked grub....pies, boiled spuds, mushy peas, she also gave us stale bread which we ate as pobs. Wherever you are now Mrs Almond, I salute you for your kindness.
We lived pretty much week to week. By that I mean that by Thursday Ma's purse was empty...and there was precious little food in the pantry.
During one of these very thin patches I was caught putting butter and jam on a slice of bread.
I was told in no uncertain terms that this was 'greedy'.
I could have butter, or I could have jam on my bread. I could not have both.
I asked Ma if it would be greedy to have two slices of bread as I planned to share it with my brother Philip...she said that this was OK.
So I put butter on one slice, jam on the other and slapped them both together.
For every problem there is a solution...if you are prepared to look for it.
Oh, yes and before any of you out there think we were posh having jam...it was the mixed fruit flavour...it had no real flavour it just tasted sweet and red.