Saturday Magazine – July 20, 2019

Words by: Jennifer Rodger

TV REALITY

Steve and his

son, Billy

‘I want my

kids to do

better things

and get paid for

something they

really enjoy’

Struggling on the edge

Eviction or suicide are among the

fears stalking families on low incomes

W

hether we work to live or live

to work, we all agree it is to

pay the bills. But what if you

clock in the hours, and it

doesn’t pay the bills?

This documentary follows nine families over a year who fall

between the cracks, coming up short each month and

racking up debts. It’s the heartbreaking story behind working

Britain today, and the people living pay cheque by pay cheque.

We meet father of three children Ross from Port Talbot in

Wales. He works 12 hours a day at the steel works, and his

weekly £375 pay after tax hasn’t kept up with inflation or the

cost of living. He has a full-time job, but once bills, debts and

the mortgage are paid, his family has less than

£300 per month to live off.

‘I want something better for my

children,’ says Ross. ‘I don’t want my

kids repeating my life. I don’t want

them to follow in my footsteps. I

want them to do better things and

get paid for something that they

really enjoy.’

He’s managing to keep his

family afloat, but father and son

Steve and Billy are sinking. When

Steve lost his job, he then had to

leave his home and has spent the

summer living in a tent on the beach

in Hastings.

He has now pitched up in the

woods. He’s taken work on a zero-hours

contract on a hop farm, but loses it when he

calls in late one day.

Meanwhile, the documentary includes the voices of other

Britons in debt talking about how they’ve had to live off

payday loans and credit cards, and even contemplated

suicide. Life is just too expensive.

Also watch the dramatisation of the real story of Jerome

Rogers, who didn’t have the money to pay his speeding

fines because he couldn’t make a living on his zero-hour

contract with a bike courier company. The fines

escalated and, trapped in debt, aged 20, Rogers took his

own life. Killed By My Debt (BBC Three).

Skint Britain: Friends Without Benefits (All4) is a

documentary that looks at the impact of universal credit,

when the switch in the welfare system left people without

income for five weeks.

BROKEN BRITAIN ON TV

BROKE Thur

9pm BBC

Ross hopes for

a better life for

daughter Evie

SATURDAY MAGAZINE 13