What’s new is the utter lack of support for those that need it the most. Help must come from politicians, not just communities
For many people, the cost of living crisis seems to have reared its ugly head a few months ago, with the new discussion over the dinner table being the choice between heating or eating. But this has been a concern for working-class families for well over a decade. It has only become a “crisis” now that it has begun to affect middle-class families too.
I grew up in Whinney Banks in Middlesbrough, one of the most deprived areas in England, with almost a third of children living in income-deprived households. My mum is a first-generation immigrant, and my parents had to start from nothing here. They lived on top of a corner shop where they worked for less than the minimum wage. When I was born, they weren’t eligible for benefits. For a while, we were homeless – when my mum was heavily pregnant with my brother – and I took my first steps in a hostel for families.
Sunita Ghosh Dastidar is a journalist and film maker
