Holidays - are you really in poverty if you can't afford one?

gentlepurr

i have always considered holidays to be anecessity. seeing the world, and how people live has made me the person i am today. no, i'm not stinkin rich, neither do i earn a fortune! i would forgo many a thing that is considered a necessity to afford a holiday. for example, i did not have a tv or a car for two years, but i still had a holiday. its a matter of whats important to you, and what you are prepared to do without to afford one.

how many of these people that are living in poverty drink, smoke, gamble, and have designer clothes on their back?

no offence to others meant

xx

Leothecat

For years I was unable to understand how people who were apparently in the same financial situation as me, were able to take 2-3 holidays a year and have nice shiny cars sitting outside their houses. Now I understand - they couldn't afford it and were actually putting it all on the credit cards! I have no credit card debt and also have not had a holiday other than camping (with my 10 year old car), in years.
To me poverty is where someone who cannot afford to feed and clothe themselves and their family. It is someone who cannot afford fuel to keep their house warm, not someone who does not have a holiday.

gilly41

Hi
Poverty definately is not having holidays- to me it would be not being able to pay the mortgage, go food shopping and keep the house warm!!
When my kids were growing up(they are now 20 & 22) we went away once a year on a self catering holiday- paid for by saving hubbies overtime. I chose to be a SAHM and have never regretted doing so! Both my kids have done well at school- my daughter is very clever but my son is only "average". I was proud to say i was at home and had the time each day to sit down and help them with homework, college course choices and ultimately University choices. They have both grown up Knowing the value of money and realising that it is hard to come by!!!
I too used to watch ppl going on 2 foreign hols a year and buying 2 cars and wondering how they did it. Now I realise too that it must all be on credit!
xx

fruitcake_2

I'm 34 and as a child of the seventies...I was happy if my family made it to Southend, once every four years for a day out!! Guess it's what your expectations were as a family. It would have been so nice for us to have got to have more fun time together, but dad was working three jobs to keep a roof over our heads, so I'm certainly not ungrateful. For myself, poverty means not being able to put clothes on my back, or have enough for food. Most holidays are about getting away from "routine" and I guess people do that in many ways without having to go abroad...:)

tango

the trouble with going away, is you always, in my experience spend too much. while its good to "get away" too often it is paid for on the never never. before you no it you are looking at your credit card bill and thinking ****!!!!. keep it cheap or save??????? thats my motto now. x

code-a-holic

Poverty is not being able to afford clothes, shelter, food. We were never well over as children.... I still have never been abroad or had a holiday. I am now married and we have not had a honeymoon but i dont consider us to be on the poverty line. I feel its more important to spend our money on making everyday life for our 3 children comfortble, than scrimping all year for what will probably end up being hard work (3 under 4's!)
Our version of a holiday has been a day shopping in cardiff and stay in a travel lodge and ikea the next day! BUT we are going on a 4 day holiday to a beach side resort in somerset in March.....im already stressing about if we will fit the necessities in the car, having to take the steriliser, 2 travl cots etc. More stress than its worth in my eyes!

FrankieM

Surely its more a 'state of the nation' thing....

While many people on here understand that poverty is not being able to afford what we understand to be 'the basics'... alot of people now see that things like cars, holidays, takeaways, conservatories, leather sofas etc ARE 'the basics'.

Perhaps thats more what the report is about...perhaps those people should have a holiday in a third world country and get a real taste of poverty.....

isasmurf

SammyD wrote:

I read this week that one in three families are in poverty because they cannot afford a one week holiday once a year...is it just me, or does anyone else find this definition of poverty a bit strange?

Hmmm... that's interesting. Where did you read that? I've been waiting for Government figures on this to come out, so I'd be interested to know if they're official figures or some private research.

Traditionally poverty is measured on income, the typical level of income is 60% of median income. (Median is the middle, so 50% of people have an income above that amount and 50% below). The Government did a review a couple of years ago, and decided that this wasn't an entirely accurate measure of poverty, so they were due to announce a new measure this year. This new measure will be based on a combination of relative low income (70% below median income) and material deprivation. The plan the last I heard was to ask around 20 questions, some to the adults in the household and some to the children. The questions from what I can remember asked about holidays among other things. I'll try and dig out what the questions were.

Russ66

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the joys of "The Sun Holidays"

These are great value, you don't have to shell out the extra for the passes if you don't want to, infact some places don't charge anyway.

Also if you choose a holiday break close to home then it won't cost much in travelling expenses either.

We are lucky though. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We live in Wales!!

pinkfluffybabe

I think that things such as holidays are used as a benchmark for how people see themselves. As so many people now go abroad and so on, perhaps people who don't/can't, feel that they are then in poverty.

On a similar subject, there was a TV programme years ago called Breadline Britain which looked at indicators of poverty in (I think) the 1980's. The first time they did it, people considered themselves to be poor if they didnt have enough food etc and then when they re-ran it 10 years later, categories of poverty had changed and it was all about ownership of TV/Car etc.

I don't think living without a holiday is living in poverty, I think, like many others, that it is not having a roof over your head, food, heat etc.