Seven Five Year-Olds

George [1] is five years old and lives with his mum, dad, and two older siblings in private rented accommodation in Lerwick. His is a lively household, shaped by noise, movement, and the pull of sibling relationships.  George shares a room with his older brother; bunk beds, so they have space to play.  From the outside, George’s family appears to be managing: the children attend school, the parents work hard, and everyday life continues. But beneath this is a constant and exhausting effort to balance work, benefits, health, and money, with little margin for safety.

George’s dad does some paid work, but only up to a point. If he works too much, the family risks losing benefits that they cannot afford to give up. The rules around Universal Credit are complex and shifting, and the fear of getting something wrong looms large.  He is expected to search for work up to 35 hours a week, with a failure to do so leading to sanctions.  For the family, paid work is not a simple route out of poverty but a careful calculation. Even small changes in income can mean falling worse off overall, so they live within tight constraints, prioritising stability over opportunity.

The family’s household income is around £15,182 a year [i], roughly £292 a week, which is around the bottom fifth to quarter of UK households. As a household this income sits within the 15K to 20K bracket, along with 8% of Shetland households; 1,322 households earn less than George’s family [ii]. Once rent is paid, they have about £237 left each week [iii], or £32.20 a day, to cover food, heating, clothing, transport, and all the costs of raising three children. This is more than some families have, but it is still a very low income for a household of five, especially in Shetland, where the cost of living is higher than on the mainland. As a family, it costs them up to 30% more to live in Shetland, than if they lived in a UK Mainland urban area, and up to 25% more than a rural area of the UK [iv].  Food, particularly fresh food, costs more, and heating a home through long, cold winters is a constant worry.  However, they are lucky that they receive their heating through the cheaper more stable priced local district heating scheme [v].

Fortunately, Shetland also brings some advantages. George’s parents receive the Scottish Child Payment of £28.20 a week [vi] and the Shetland Winter Payment of about £300 [vii] during the winter. These payments make a genuine difference - they help keep the house warm a little longer, or cover school needs that would otherwise be impossible. They don’t solve everything, but they give his parents moments where they can breathe.

George’s mum lives with anxiety and depression. Although she is not officially recognised as disabled, her experiences at school, especially feelings of failure and shame around learning, have stayed with her into adulthood. She was a bright child, with so much potential, but she remembers feeling physically sick when asked to answer maths questions in class, and those memories continue to undermine her confidence. Leaving the house can be difficult, and interacting with services feels overwhelming. She takes medication but is reluctant to ask for further help, feeling that others are worse off and that she should cope.  She may be neuro-divergent, doing her best to mask it; she is very creative, and when she is able, she enjoys finding things in the charity shops, to alter for her children.

This has created a vicious cycle. George’s mum would like to work and even dreams of becoming a nurse one day, but fear, anxiety, and worries about the impact on the family’s benefits hold her back. Gradually, she has begun to engage with Adult Learning, taking small steps towards rebuilding confidence. George’s dad supports this and hopes that gaining qualifications might help her feel more valued and more secure in herself, but the uncertainty of whether this time, trying something new, will result in change, and then how any change might affect their finances.

Daily life in the household is shaped by careful budgeting and quiet sacrifice. Bills are not always paid on time, and any unexpected expense can tip the balance. Food often runs short toward the end of the month, and the family has needed to use the food bank, but she often feels she should leave this food for those that need it more. George’s mum frequently says she isn’t hungry so that the children can eat. His older brother sometimes claims he’s too busy playing football at break to have a snack, knowing that means there will be more food left for his younger siblings at home. 

School occasions that are meant to be joyful, such as Christmas, book days, or special theme days, bring stress rather than excitement. In the past, the children have sometimes stayed home on these days, embarrassed about not having the right clothes or books. More recently, George’s mum has made a determined effort to take the children to the library instead, even though she finds it difficult, so they don’t miss out completely. Still, the children notice that others leave school clutching new books chosen from wishlists that feel out of reach.

George grows up surrounded by love and determination. His parents work hard to keep up appearances, aware of how easily families like theirs are judged. They make sure the children are clean, polite, and punctual, even when they are struggling behind the scenes. Friendships matter to them, but they carefully hide their financial and health difficulties, determined not to be seen as failing.

The stress of poverty extends beyond the immediate household. George’s mum worries deeply about her brother, who has faced similar mental health challenges. His difficulties spiralled into substance use, the loss of work, and homelessness.  He now couch‑surfs rather than sleeping rough, but is still profoundly insecure. The family has no space at home and no spare money to help, reinforcing a sense of helplessness and fear about what the future might hold.

For George himself, life is busy, active, and full of energy. He thrives on routine and on being part of a large family. He feels loved and protected, even as his opportunities are shaped by forces beyond his parents’ control. His childhood is not defined by neglect, but by constant constraint: stability without security, care without comfort, and a family doing everything they can to keep going in a system that offers little room for error.