I first crossed paths with Miriam when she was just a young girl of 13. One day, she confided in Eve, questioning, ‘How could we assist my mother? She is burdened. There is an incessant worry in me about the sufficiency of our income for necessities such as food and others.’ Miriam elaborated that her mother frequently forfeited her own meals to guarantee that her children had food to consume. ‘Often, we run out of food. So, if there’s just a bit left, she ensures that me and my brothers get it, and then she settles for merely having tea or something similar,’ she added.
The family of four had been trying to make ends meet in a modest two-bedroom apartment in London. The dwelling belonged to a private landlord. The lights in the children’s bedroom had been put out over a year ago, and the family had been managing their nighttime routines utilizing the flashlight in the family’s sole mobile phone. The flat had its share of domestic problems; the kitchen sink was constantly clogged and had to be manually emptied each time.
Despite the difficulty, the family had spent three years in that apartment, and more than a decade in London. But their prospects for betterment were few and far between. Serwah, Miriam’s mother, had left Ghana for the UK with the dream of a flourishing life. However, post migration, she was forced to confront harsh reality: she had been misled with false assurances and life was not as rosy as she had been led to believe.
Serwah found herself entangled in a strenuous relationship with a man who, in her words, was a ‘liar’ and had ‘ruined everything’. This ill-fated relationship concluded with Serwah finding herself in a state of uncertainty. Recently, she had managed to secure ‘limited leave to remain’ in the UK but with ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) status.
In 2019, an analysis conducted by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford estimated that, in the UK, there were about 1.376 million people with the ‘leave to remain’ status on a time-limited basis. This included students and people on work or family visas, and all of them were subject to NRPF. There were around 674,000 individuals who were undocumented and, by default, had the NRPF imposed on them.
In cases such as that of Serwah’s, this meant that regardless of the level of privation that a family faced, they had virtually no access to governmental support. The opportunities for sustenance were severely limited. Resultantly, they had to solely depend on the income Serwah earned from her part-time job, working two night shifts weekly in a small residential home, caring for individuals with dementia. Her children were looked after by a friend during her work hours.
Despite their efforts, the family fell into a profound debt. Months of unpaid rent accrued due to their poverty had cornered them legally and stalled the intervention to ensure that the private landlord provided indispensable utilities like adequate heating and water.
Even amidst the dire conditions, Abiola, another family member, recommenced her bid to save money for Akin’s citizenship application. ‘Gradually, I started putting away money. I began using a shoebox as though it was a safe. And I regularly added money to it over the course of four or five years,’ Abiola recollected.
She revealed that any minor financial assistance she received from her ex-partner, alongside the meager income from her small jobs, was added to that shoebox. ‘At the very least, I’m depositing £5. I didn’t prefer to put in coins. However, there are instances where I might not be able to contribute even a penny to the box in an entire month,’ she admitted.
The shoebox, which held her savings, was more than just a safety deposit to Abiola. It was a symbol of aspiration and optimism. She further stated: ‘That box was my constant companion, everywhere I went. I refrained from using the money. I aimed to preserve it. Even in the direst of times, I did not resort to using that money.’
Abiola firmly believed that preserving that money would be her salvation. She elaborated, ‘…it was with hope that I was saving. This is where the prospects of a better future lay. We need to save to escape our current predicament and live a life of prosperity.’ Laced with desperation, determination, and undying hope, this story underlines the harsh reality of countless similar families striving to surge ahead in life. Their struggle for a more stable and secure existence continues amidst stagnant circumstances.
The post Miriam’s Family: A Struggle for Basic Necessities in London appeared first on Real News Now.
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