Food and heat bills make winter harder for Debbie and Charlie

DEBBIE, a single mother living in a one-bedroom Glasgow tenement flat with her son Charlie, worries he is missing out while she struggles to find work.

The pair, whose names have been changed to disguise their identities, face daily problems from debt collectors at the door to worrying about turning on the heating as ice forms on the window.

She said: “We live in a one-bedroom flat, it’s tiny and cold.

“I’m unemployed and I’ve been out of work for about five years. The hardest thing about being out of work is getting back into work.

“Because I’m a lone parent, we’re looked at as being unfavourable for work because we need to take time off for the kids. I’ve also got mental health issues and, because I’ve been out of work for a while, finding employers to take me on is quite difficult.”

She worries about the impact poverty has on her nine-year-old son.

“The hardest thing about living on a low income is that we can’t do anything, we’re stuck in all the time,” Debbie said.

“Charlie’s friends get to do things but we don’t.

“He can’t even have a sleepover because we’re both in the same bedroom. He misses out. The food budget is really tight sometimes, and I struggle with most bills. I’ve been struggling with the mortgage, the flat was nearly repossessed.

“We had debt collectors at the door and of course, that’s not healthy for Charlie to see.”

Things get tough in winter.

“Winter was really bad – we had ice on the inside of our windows. My main thing with not having an awful lot of money is that I’m afraid to put the heating on,” she said.