General Chat

I think a lot of youngers have a very different view of what poverty is - quite simply because they haven't really experienced REAL poverty.They see it on the TV, but it is a world away from their world and hence dont appreciate what it actually means (or should i say, implies). Jess

Just rememberd somthing ,when my kids was little 30+yrs ago we went through a really tough patch as all couples do,i sold my wedding ring,got a big sack of potatos,tins of beans eggs and sausages with the money,and by being inventive with cooking and the freezer,it lasted us for a month

Absolutely agree Dee. But everything is relative isn't it? My younger daughter, a single parent, likes to have everything brand new (as do all her friends) - although that has changed slightly since she discovered ebay! She would not dream of going to jumble sales or the like to buy stuff for her home and family as I used to - and still do on occasion! It is to do with the 'throw away' society we now live in I suppose. Whereas my generation (baby boomer) was brought up to 'make do and mend', nowadays possessions, and designer labels, seem to be the norm. People think they are hard done by if they cannot have what they want, when they want it despite the cost. In reality we are so very much better off than our ancestors with our centrally heated homes with 'all mod cons', healthy and easily obtainable food, and much shorter working week. My life would probably seem very boring to some, but we are proud of the fact that we have worked hard all our lives, our house is paid for, our children have never gone hungry or needed for anything important in their lives, and although we may not have had the material possessions of some others, our family are remarkably happy with their lot! I've just reread that and it sounds very smug - I didn't mean it to. We have had our fair share of mishaps over the years, but have survived relatively unscathed - despite our relative 'poverty'. Sue xx

I look back on my childhood spent with my Grandma in the west of Ireland as idyllic and carefree. Yet when I think of her I realize now how very difficult her life must have been. No electricity so lamps had to be lit every evening, water was lugged from a spring well ten minutes walk away, No sewage, so shovel and dock leaves accompanied you to your daily evacuation, somewhere off in the fields....food cooked over an open fire, and so on. My point is her life was arduous and poor...but to a child it was heaven....

I remember my dad telling me that at times he had no shoes,slept on the stairs,gran was left with about nine children when grandad disapeared in 1917 never to be seen again,she became a washer woman, today with carboots and charity shops there ias no real reason why you cant get clothes on the cheap,but a hunderd years + ago you wore the same thing day after day till it fell of if you were that poor

Morning all i think it's more a case of living below the bread line!! but peoples values have changed Love Helenxx

Hi Dee I don't know about shoes but I do know the government introduced school meals in the early 1900s because children were going to school starving becausemthey didn't have anywhere near enough to eat. Juliexx

Gwen Someone mentioned children not being able to go to school as they couldn't afford to have their shoes mended, and it started me thinking. Doubt that happens these days in the UK Dee xx

personaly i dont think we could ever come near to the poverty that our ancestors had,even my dad b 1916's life was horrific,but we dont know the life they lived and its a mirical they survived and we are here today ,,

I shall act as devil’s advocate here and say that people these days often think they are poor because they can’t afford what our ancestors would have considered luxuries. How do other people feel?

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