[BBC Documentary] Breadline Kids

About The Show:

According to Child Poverty Action Group figures, a quarter of Scotland's children live in poverty and, shockingly, more than two-thirds of that number come from a family where at least one parent works. This sobering documentary looks at the lives of four families struggling to make ends meet.

Eleven-year-old John has moved to Dumfries from London while his mum's application is processed for leave to remain in the UK. The family is not entitled to benefits so John, his 19-year-old sister Damola and their mum rely on the local foodbank. Damola, who volunteers there, says: 'Without this place we'd be done. We would go hungry. John wants to eat when he wants to eat, it's part of growing up'.

In Glenrothes, single mum Helen had to leave work to look after her 14-year-old autistic son Nathan. She's careful, buying day-old rolls for 5p when she can, but still has to rely on financial help from 17-year-old son William, who earns just £3.50 per hour as an engineering apprentice.

In Glasgow, mum Marie's health suffers as she worries about how she's going to feed eight-year-old daughter Olivia and her teenage son, while in Aberdeen mum-of-three Kerry often goes without food to make sure her three children don't have to. She says: 'The reality is that a trip to the cinema could pay for dinners for a week so you have no choice but to deprive your children of what they see other children having all around them'.

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