Hard Times & Austerity
It's the end of February and winter is in full swing. The bad weather with all storms and flooding is rather apt for the theme of this blog. While I'm trying to charter my experience of walking the breadline including the ups and the downs, lately it's felt like more downs than ups.
Before we go any further, this post has been sectioned into two parts; the first being named 'Hard Times' is my first hand account of poverty. The next part 'Austerity' is more political and my take on it.
On Thurs I got a little relief. After a week of one meal a day followed by not eating for 24 hours I was able to get a couple of days of food and fuels by pawning in an Xbox 360.
Hard Times
As a welfare recipient returning to employment is my top priority, no one wants to languish in poverty.
In the last two weeks I've had two job interviews and neither was successful. I try not to let it weigh on me but it is.
Both food insecurity and fuel poverty have been an issue this week. For people like me there is no safety net to fall back on. Like anyone else struggling to make ends meet I've been rationing my fuel usage. Which in a month full of storms has not been fun.
Food poverty has also been a problem. I've spent most of the week subsisting on one bowl of porridge a day. By Wednesday I had ran out of food and went to my interview on an empty stomach.
On Thurs I got a little relief. After a week of one meal a day followed by not eating for 24 hours I was able to get a couple of days of food and fuels by pawning in an Xbox 360.
This is the reality of being destitute in 21st Century Britain, a lot of us live a few days or just a day at a time.
Today is Saturday 29th and I'm pretty much back to where I was on Wed. There's still two week til I get paid. That means there's two weeks of food and fuel poverty. That means going days at a time without food and going without fuels. It's demoralising when you do not know where your next meal is coming from.
I can tell you from first hand experience that being on UC affects your mental health. Well a new study found a link between depression and UC. [1]
Foodbank use 🆙
Poverty and child poverty 🆙
Austerity is a political choice. One that disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable in society as we rely on public services more than any other demographic.
Cuts to the NHS, education, welfare, defense, prison and probationary services etc all have real life impacts. Benefit claimants going days and weeks without food. Nurses are forced to turn to foodbanks after years of pay freeze and pay cap. Patients are getting misdiagnosed and treatment is being delayed by an overstretched underfunded NHS.
❌ 21,000 fewer front-line police officers
❌ 20,000 fewer prison officers
❌ 10,000 fewer border officals
❌ 10,000 fewer firefighters
That's just the tip of the iceberg too when it comes to the impacts of austerity on our front-line services. Schools are now running on 4 or 4.5 day weeks as they cannot afford to operate for 5 days a week, this will invariably have an impact on the next generations quality of education. Then you've got cuts to welfare and how this is literally starving people. The public sector went under a pay freeze then 1% cap.
The NHS - once a beacon of national pride, now on it's knees after a decade of systematic dismantling and chronic underfundering. Regardless of your political leanings, real people like me rely on services like the NHS so if any government ever wants to privatise the health service, you need to be prepared to pressure them into backing down. Real people like me are relying on you to do so.
There's one last thing I'd like to touch upon regarding austerity, and that is related deaths. There's been an estimated 120-130k preventable austerity related deaths according to one think tank. A recent high profile case was that of Errol Graham, if you are not aware of his story, please look into it 😔😢
This week I have focused on austerity and destitution in the UK. The point of this blog post was to convey the reality of this government's decisions. If you've been impacted by the issues highlighted or you have your own story of poverty, please feel free to share your story in the comments below ⬇️ also I want to see how many people have read this far. If you have, please leave a comment with what dinosaur you'd be 😬😁
If you enjoyed this week's post, hit that Subscribe button up top.
I run this blog on a cheap phone with a cracked screen, people like me can't afford devices such as laptops or tablets or PCs. This is why the layout and format is simple, I'm doing the best I can with the tools I have.
Thank you for reading, this post is a particularly long one.
This blog is a potential route out of destitution for me. If I can get enough readers, I can start earning 💷
You can find me on Twitter @NorthernLefty
Sources:
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/education-51664792
[3] https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-says-nobody-stuck-up-for-the-bankers-as-much-as-i-did-when-asked-about-fk-business-jibe-499911
Today is Saturday 29th and I'm pretty much back to where I was on Wed. There's still two week til I get paid. That means there's two weeks of food and fuel poverty. That means going days at a time without food and going without fuels. It's demoralising when you do not know where your next meal is coming from.
I can tell you from first hand experience that being on UC affects your mental health. Well a new study found a link between depression and UC. [1]
Austerity
I try not to get too political with my blog but I'd like to touch on austerity. UC was born out of austerity, the two are inextricably linked.
For most of us, all you need to do is set foot outside your own door to see the impacts of austerity.
Homelessness 🆙For most of us, all you need to do is set foot outside your own door to see the impacts of austerity.
Foodbank use 🆙
Poverty and child poverty 🆙
Austerity is a political choice. One that disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable in society as we rely on public services more than any other demographic.
Cuts to the NHS, education, welfare, defense, prison and probationary services etc all have real life impacts. Benefit claimants going days and weeks without food. Nurses are forced to turn to foodbanks after years of pay freeze and pay cap. Patients are getting misdiagnosed and treatment is being delayed by an overstretched underfunded NHS.
❌ 21,000 fewer front-line police officers
❌ 20,000 fewer prison officers
❌ 10,000 fewer border officals
❌ 10,000 fewer firefighters
That's just the tip of the iceberg too when it comes to the impacts of austerity on our front-line services. Schools are now running on 4 or 4.5 day weeks as they cannot afford to operate for 5 days a week, this will invariably have an impact on the next generations quality of education. Then you've got cuts to welfare and how this is literally starving people. The public sector went under a pay freeze then 1% cap.
The NHS - once a beacon of national pride, now on it's knees after a decade of systematic dismantling and chronic underfundering. Regardless of your political leanings, real people like me rely on services like the NHS so if any government ever wants to privatise the health service, you need to be prepared to pressure them into backing down. Real people like me are relying on you to do so.
There's one last thing I'd like to touch upon regarding austerity, and that is related deaths. There's been an estimated 120-130k preventable austerity related deaths according to one think tank. A recent high profile case was that of Errol Graham, if you are not aware of his story, please look into it 😔😢
This week I have focused on austerity and destitution in the UK. The point of this blog post was to convey the reality of this government's decisions. If you've been impacted by the issues highlighted or you have your own story of poverty, please feel free to share your story in the comments below ⬇️ also I want to see how many people have read this far. If you have, please leave a comment with what dinosaur you'd be 😬😁
If you enjoyed this week's post, hit that Subscribe button up top.
I run this blog on a cheap phone with a cracked screen, people like me can't afford devices such as laptops or tablets or PCs. This is why the layout and format is simple, I'm doing the best I can with the tools I have.
Thank you for reading, this post is a particularly long one.
This blog is a potential route out of destitution for me. If I can get enough readers, I can start earning 💷
You can find me on Twitter @NorthernLefty
Quote of the day
The one, the only Tony Benn
Sources:
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/education-51664792
[3] https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-says-nobody-stuck-up-for-the-bankers-as-much-as-i-did-when-asked-about-fk-business-jibe-499911
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