Thread by @MrsNickyClark

So let’s chat about the take by some that if “you can’t afford kids don’t have them” so my parents both grew up poor then through education & training (mum nurse, father various ended up in advertising) able to afford a detached house 3 kids at private school. Then my dad left -

He saw no reason to “fund our lifestyle” (his kids) my brother was diagnosed with terminal heart & lung condition. My mum was struggling to keep things going. On one wage, hers. Now my father was a good Tory voter. Didn’t believe in the welfare state & “handouts” -

He turned my mum into a single mother, then my brother died. So he stopped paying my school fees . My mum was desperate for me to have consistency. Then he insisted the house be sold so he & his girlfriend could get half. He wasn’t on benefits, my mum didn’t bring it on herself.

There are many many reasons why people end up poor. Many many reason why kids are hungry. Many many reasons why mothers are raising kids alone. It can happen to anyone. If you think anyone owns their situation you don’t understand how life works & probably should learn a bit more

That’s not even including the grinding reality that not everyone escapes poverty in the first place. The reality of the stranglehold it places on your life chances. The truth of disability, illness, racism and misogyny are hugely influential, externally imposed preventions.

We’re not all the same. Where you start doesn’t have to be where you end up but it often is, because life isn’t a straightforward trajectory. We’re all of us just one illness or accident away from poverty. Without a safety net of some kind it could be permanent.