Dickensian Britain

growstuff, thanks for your description of one woman and child whose life fell apart through ‘no fault of her own’. I say that because there are many in our country who are quick to criticise and blame those less fortunate than themselves.

Allsorts I've written this before and I'll write it again. In the UK, the majority of parents in insecure housing are single parents who have previously been in what they thought was a secure relationship. At the time, they thought they would be able to afford children, but nobody has a crystal ball and life has a habit of throwing curveballs.

westendgirl - I also feel incredibly sad that this is happening in this day and age .
Dickensian Britain is an apt title .

Attlee

This is a desperately sad thread. Talk of workhouses, asking for 'evidence' that mother's who are in the desperate situation of trying to bring up their children in a grotty b and b, have or do not a toaster, is beyond demoralising.
What on earth have we become?

What "we" have become is a nasty intolerant suspicious country. The Tories policy of divide and rule is working well, on GN at least. I cannot believe some of the posts on here.

The widening gap between the very rich and the very poor in the UK is a potential source of serious social unrest. On yer bike to live in a cheaper area is not an easy solution for the very poor who lack the resources to make the move and fear losing what little income they have to extra travel costs to work. Although some progressive local authorities like Southwark are building social housing many LAs are not because either they have been cut to the bone by the Tories or because they prefer private 'affordable' housing which is well out of reach for the poor.