I totally agree with you Gagajo. I was brought up in dreadful poverty, my father was a chronic invalid and my mother was his carer. She had a career as a senior sister in a maternity hospital, but had to give it up to care for him. No carer's allowances in those days.
I strongly believe in education as the way out of poverty. My mother wanted me out working, but I got a job in factories in the summer and a bar at the weekend to pay my way through university. My mother insisted in taking most of my grant from me, as she said it was needed it to run the household! However, I was determined to succeed, as I knew I could have a better life.
Her mantra was: People like us don't go to university.
I spent all of my teaching career in one of the most deprived areas in Scotland. I was passionate about encouraging children to work hard at school and make a better life for themselves. However, it didn't always happen, as there was no encouragement or support from some parents. Parents had such low expectations of themselves and their children picked up on that.
Most of my colleagues came from very affluent backgrounds and couldn't understand why "those parents justcouldn't get their act together!"
I remember an occasion when a family lost all their possessions in a house fire. A colleague commented that it was ridiculous not to have purchased house insurance. I had to explain that the family had a choice, choose between house insurance or food on the table, they couldn't afford both. She just didn't get it.
Of course there are people who don't/ can't manage their money well, but there are also those who do not have enough to live on after rent etc is paid, no matter how well they try. Some don't have the skills to manage their budget.
We taught financial education to pupils in the hope that we could break the cycle of borrowing from loan sharks or high interest credit companies.
To encourage children and parents to save and borrow wisely, acredit union was opened in the school
Some children would come into school, soaked to the skin, wearing ankle socks and summer shoes, having walked to school (no money for bus fares) in the rain and snow, having had no breakfast.
It has been suggested that people should take the bus instead of taking out a car loan. Some people didn't even have the price of a bus fare. Many a time, in really bad weather, I gave a child money for their bus fare home. I knew they would be going home, soaking wet, to a house with no heating, as mum didn't have tokens for the electricity meter.
This is not meant to be a sob story, I'm proud of what I have achieved, but sad that even today, children are trapped in poverty and through no fault of their own, are not encouraged to seize the opportunity of getting a good education.
It is so easy to tell people to manage their money better, but unless you have experienced it, you have absolutely no idea what it is like to live hand to mouth (and the shame that goes with it).
Sermon over! I just feel so passionate about education as a means of achieving a better life.