Generally unless you've either got one person on a very good wage, you have to have two working adults per family, there are a lot of things that you end up having to do without.
All that aside, it's still a lot better than it was. I remember growing up in the 1980's, when there was a lot less welfare available and some of the people working for the local authorities had an interesting idea of what was essential or not - like heating or a washing machine. Living in a council house with no central heating, going out to the woodland at the back of the housing development and helping my mum cut up fallen branches to burn on the little stove so we had hot water (we did have a gas cooker to cook on thankfully), my mum selling her jewelry to buy things for us and get cooker repaired. It was tough especially with my younger brother in and out of one of the big London children's hospitals because he needed a kidney transplant. Being home schooled because my mum couldn't risk me being at school when my brother was called in hospital, or bringing all the childhood germs back - things as simple as a cold often mean it was in hospital for days, my mum away with him and me sleeping on my grans sofa.
Writing this out makes it sound far worse it was or perhaps than it seemed at the time. We survived it and the council finally relented and fixed up some central heating for my mum and my brother when she became a pensioner a few years back.
Perhaps it's why I have a soft spot for characters who've had it tough.
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Date: 2013-08-22 04:40 pm (UTC)All that aside, it's still a lot better than it was. I remember growing up in the 1980's, when there was a lot less welfare available and some of the people working for the local authorities had an interesting idea of what was essential or not - like heating or a washing machine.
Living in a council house with no central heating, going out to the woodland at the back of the housing development and helping my mum cut up fallen branches to burn on the little stove so we had hot water (we did have a gas cooker to cook on thankfully), my mum selling her jewelry to buy things for us and get cooker repaired. It was tough especially with my younger brother in and out of one of the big London children's hospitals because he needed a kidney transplant. Being home schooled because my mum couldn't risk me being at school when my brother was called in hospital, or bringing all the childhood germs back - things as simple as a cold often mean it was in hospital for days, my mum away with him and me sleeping on my grans sofa.
Writing this out makes it sound far worse it was or perhaps than it seemed at the time. We survived it and the council finally relented and fixed up some central heating for my mum and my brother when she became a pensioner a few years back.
Perhaps it's why I have a soft spot for characters who've had it tough.