Ahomelessmum broke down in tears as she put 14 p on a table and told a TV crew “that’s all our money”.
The woman, named only as Rachel, tearfully told of her struggle to make sure her son is fed and has a roof over his head as she put down four 2p pieces and six 1pence coins.
She was featured in a specialgeneral electionreport as BBC News visited Grimsby to to speak to voters who are
Rachel hit out at politicians, saying they don’t understand what it’s like to go without basic necessities or to struggle as a single parent.
Are you a struggling parent? Email your story to[email protected].
The single mum invited the news crew into the temporary accommodation she shares with her teenage son, Bradley, after a visit to the Rock Foundation foodbank,GrimsbyLivereports.
She emptied her pockets to show how much money she had .
She told theBBCthrough tears: “That’s all our money”.
Asked what her biggest concerns are, Rachel said: “Making sure my son is fed and has a roof over his head for the time being.
“If I didn’t have him I wouldn’t be here. I know I wouldn’t. It’s because of him I’m still here. ”
The program touched on voters’ distrust of politicians.
Rachel said: “Sometimes I think they don’t deserve it [my vote] because they don’t get, they don’t understand, what it’s like to be without.”
On the topic ofBrexit,which has dominated the campaign, she said: “The situation I’m in, it can’t get any worse.”
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General election 2019
The program featured a number of locals who rely on community shops and foodbanks.
Many told how they had no faith in the political class.
Pam Hodge, of the Rock Foundation, told how Grimsby was getting “worse every year ”as it battled poverty and unemployment.
Asked if she knew who she would vote for on December 12, she said: “Not at the moment, no . And who do you believe? We see all this poverty, all this desperation, every single day. But I don’t know who I will vote for. Who do you believe? ”
In Grimsby, one in four residents are on low incomes and one in two children grow up in poverty.
A new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which works to tackle poverty in the UK, has found that low-income voters wield a lot of power in the upcoming election, but are substantial ignored by political parties.
The report said low-income voters are a large segment of the electorate, with about 9.5million in total.
Of those, 2.7million can be characterized as swing voters.
It also found that about one million Britons on low incomes – including 170, 000 swing voters – are planning to vote for the first time next week.
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The foundation has urged political parties to listen to low- income voters, saying they have increasing power but continue to be locked out of policy-making and debate.
Sixteen children’s charities, led by Children in Scotland, have released an alternative election manifesto, urging parties to tackle everything from poverty to climate change.
The manifesto urges the next government to end the benefit cap and readopt legally binding targets to reduce child poverty.
Juliet Harris, Director of Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), one of the groups supporting the manifesto, said : “It is shameful that in 2019, child poverty is one of the most significant human rights issues across the UK. “
Recent studies have found a rise in the number of Britons turning to foodbanks for help.
A record 1.6million emergency food parcels were given out by the Trussell Trust foodbank network last year.
More than half a million of them were given to children.
Earlier this week, the homeless charity Shelter said its research has found that a child becomes homeless in Britain every eight minutes.
It said 4, 026 children will be made homeless by Christmas.
The charity added: “A staggering 135, 000 children in Britain are homeless, living in temporary accommodation, which is the highest number in 12 years. “
Shelter’s Generation Homeless report found that more than 5, 600 homeless families with children are currently living in emergency B & Bs and hostels – “widely considered the worst type of accommodation”.
It said: “Families are often squashed into one room wi th little space to cook, play or eat their meals; are forced to share bathrooms with strangers; and the accommodation is often located miles away from schools, jobs and loved ones.
“With a severe lack of social homes, expensive private rents and welfare cuts driving the country housing emergency, Shelter is warning that if nothing changes, 1, 647 children will be made homeless between now and the time of the general election on December 12 and 4, 026 by Christmas.
“The charity is calling on every political party to put housing at the top of its domestic agenda and is asking the public to support its urgent Christmas appeal. “
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