Voices from the UK: Cherie

Cherie from Southhampton

“I’m a full-time mum with four children and my partner works as a lorry driver for a large DIY chain. He used to earn up to £350, of which £140 was overtime. But because orders are down, there are far fewer deliveries to make, so any overtime has been cut. This means his weekly earnings have slipped to £210.

“It’s all wrong. We’ve worked all our lives, but now I’m going to have to go back part-time again just when we thought we were finally doing ok. I stopped working in November last year because child care was too expensive but I also felt that my sons were suffering from me not being around.

“We’ve been reassured that Rob’s hours will pick up in the summer because more home improvement and building is done then. But what happens if the recession gets worse. We can’t survive on a basic wage of £210 per week; it just doesn’t cover the family’s costs. The mortgage is £730 per month, the electricity bills are more expensive this year – the bill is now £200 per month.

We’re already making cuts, to our food shopping, no holiday this year and we’ve had to cancel my oldest sons after school football club.”

Click here to find out more about Families in Crisis.