Its a wonderful life... Want to try.....?? A Single parents View.. !!xx!

honeychurch

Whatever the viewpoint you had on young single mums before you sat down to watch this programme last night you would have found something in this programme to back this up - hence the posts going back and forward debating what the girls ACTUALLY said etc. I have to say I didn't notice the branded cereals and hovis bread... i think MORPH3US you probably saw these because you were looking for them.... The bottom line was they were on very little money per week. And what chance did they have really? I think they were doing very well without much support at all. To be brought up in a childrens home and have an alcholic mother is not going to equip you for life in the same way that a lot of us are fortunate to have been by a more stable upbringing. I do watch this think there but for the grace of god... (MORPH3USi do admire your determination to pay off your debts however, but it sounds a little hardline for me - you earn a good wage, you should treat yourself occasionally... whoops i'm on a money saving forum i probably shouldn't be talking like this...)

I don't see how anyone could begrudge them a couple of nights out... So she said she didn't think the £90 coats were overpriced... I know we are all on a moneysaving forum but a lot of 21 year olds would happily pay £90 for a coat so they don't think they are overpriced either... And the girls obvious see their childless peers strutting around like this. I would love to be able to afford a £500 designer coat and i don't think they are overpriced either!

cupid_s

Well I completely agree with you in most aspects. I am just saying that they still have very little money. You choose to forego branded food/clothes etc to pay off debts and I am exactly the same. Though a mortgage and student loan in my opinion aren't proper debts. They are in the most part unavoidable so I say they don't count (then officially I have only £1200 debt lol)
They did point out that they have no money to spend on clothes. The jacket that cost £15 was a freebie and she said she'd bought no new clothes for 9 months! It was quite sad when the girl didn't have enough money to buy thing in the pound shop (though how difficult is it to work out how much the stuff is gonna cost when it's all £1 per item. Surely she can count up to 17!?!)
But they choose to spend money on fags, and who needs a toaster anyway? I don't have one and I manage just fine.
But the girl did say she was debt. She had a loan of £400 which she was just about paying off, and obviously then she had that other £700.
I do agree though that's its all about prioritising. I felt so sorry for them until I saw them smoking, spending money on presents instead of getting the damp fixed, and spending some of the loan on nights out. I think these are the things you should forego moreso than a few branded foods.

Purdy_1

The landlord would be responsible for the damp, not the tenant.

I recorded the program last night though I did manage to watch almost all of it.

Jet

MORPH3US wrote:

In the case of the proggy last night, was not told that they had been to university so I assume that they haven't been, same as I wasn't told that they have a mortgage but again I assume they don't.

I think these are fair assumptions given that if they did have either then they probably would have mentioned in on the proggy!

M

I didn't see the programme, so I apologise if I don't know all the facts.

I suppose then you are lucky to have the opportunity to own your home and to have received a university education. I am sure you have worked very hard for that and you will repay the taxpayer by paying off your student debt.

But it sounds like these young women will not have that opportunity to better themselves. There is no doubt that there is still a poverty trap in this country despite efforts in recent years in the form of tax credits etc.

sammyy

missk_ensington wrote:

I calculate from the lady above that Income Support pays £126 a week, which is £6552 a year. They would also get I think £394 a month maximum Housing Benefit (or something in that region) which is approx £4750 a year, plus Council Tax Benefit worth approx £1380 a year. This equals £12,682 a year, maybe a little more or a little less.

So someone would need to earn about £20k gross to earn the same as being on benefits with one child?That seems an awful lot and I would imagine is a lot less then a lot of families who work have to live on.

krisskross

sammyy wrote:

So someone would need to earn about £20k gross to earn the same as being on benefits with one child?That seems an awful lot and I would imagine is a lot less then a lot of families who work have to live on.

This was exactly the point that I was making several pages back in this thread. It is the families with someone working and earning an average wage who are the poor ones these days. Have a second child whilst on benefits and income rises by £50 a week or thereabouts. Doubt very much if any of our working families get that sort of rise in income if they increase their family.

Scarlett1

viktory wrote:

I am not entirely sure why you are worrying this like a dog with a bone, but I can assure you that the fact that I met my (now) DH did not make any difference to the fact that I went to college and then began full time work. The timeline of my post on is not an exact one - I could have posted that I went to college, then met my (now) DH, blah, blah, blah. The fact is that I did go to college etc etc. And I can assure you I did it off my own bat.

You have made lots of wonderful assumptions in your post above - like the fact that my OH was working, shared the child care etc.

I would respectfully suggest you leave this alone now. I have made my point and do not need to justify myself to you or anyone else.

no-one is asking you to justify yourself, like single parents dont have to justify themselves to you, if you post drivel then I will come along with toilet paper and wipe it up

viktory

Scarlett1 wrote:

no-one is asking you to justify yourself, like single parents dont have to justify themselves to you, if you post drivel then I will come along with toilet paper and wipe it up

Woof, woof scarlett.

Scarlett1

viktory wrote:

You are another poster that seems very defensive for no apparent reason. I have made my feelings quite clear in my previous posts and see no reason why I should continue to defend my point of view. We are simply covering old ground.

defensive because we dont agree with you, you seemed to put you're back up quite quickly when it was mentioned that you didnt help yourself in the adult world

Scarlett1

viktory wrote:

Woof, woof scarlett.

do you also do tricks aswell as bark ?? :rotfl: