成人快手 Scotland - 成人快手 Scotland - 鈥業t鈥檚 like they鈥檙e trapping you鈥� 鈥� the exhausting and demoralising effects of poverty on modern family life

鈥業t鈥檚 like they鈥檙e trapping you鈥� 鈥� the exhausting and demoralising effects of poverty on modern family life

15 February 2018

Eleven-year-old John from Dumfries is just one of the .

John鈥檚 family is one of thousands living below the breadline in Scotland

His mother, Christiana, was previously employed as a carer, but when her visa expired she had to stop work and apply for leave to remain in the United Kingdom. She is not entitled to any benefits, so rent and food are entirely provided by local charities.

John is aware of the harsh realities of his situation, as he explained on Breadline Kids.

“When you don’t have your leave to remain in the UK, it’s like they’re trapping you,” he said. “Because if you don’t have that you can’t work; if you can’t work you can’t maintain a house...”

John’s 19-year-old sister Dami is troubled by the family's circumstances and often forgoes her meals so John can eat well.

The situation weighs heavily on Dami’s mind. “I’ve cried at night” she said. “I try to keep that away from them because my mum will feel bad for putting her kids in this situation. I don’t want that, so I keep it to myself.”

Living without luxury

It’s all too easy for John to compare his lifestyle to those of his classmates. “Everybody has a TV; I do not,” he explained.

But it can be hard for him to stand by and see schoolmates enjoy life’s luxuries.

“At half term, some people are going to Croatia, going to London. I feel like, that’s a shame I can’t do that because I don’t have money — but then I remember that I should be grateful for what I have.”

John plays a tune on the ukelele whilst growing up around stress and poverty

Contribuor Dami talks about her brother.

Breadline Kids

The lives of families in Dumfries, Glenrothes, Glasgow and Aberdeen who are struggling to make ends meet.

With real wages falling, the amount of debt we are taking on is rising and the pressure we are under is increasing.
An extra 400,000 children will be in 鈥榓bsolute poverty鈥� within six years due to benefit cuts, a think tank has said.
More than two-thirds of the children living in poverty in the UK are in families where at least one parent is working, according to official figures.
Buying a home is the most significant financial decision in most people鈥檚 lives. For tenants, paying the rent is the biggest monthly outgoing.