Seven Five Year-Olds

Freya [1] is five years old and lives with her younger sister and both parents in a remote part of Shetland. Their home is surrounded by open space, quiet roads, and familiar faces. It is a place that offers safety, friendliness, and a strong sense of community, but also, isolation, limited services, and daily logistical challenges that shape every aspect of family life.

Both of Freya’s parents work, often juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet. They can only afford one car, which quickly becomes a barrier rather than a convenience. Freya’s dad uses it for work, leaving her mum limited in the jobs she can take and the hours she can work. Although she went away to university and once imagined a different future, life now feels constrained by geography, childcare shortages, and the realities of rural living. She often feels lonely and cut off, missing the social connections and opportunities she once expected.

When both girls were in nursery, Freya’s mum was able to work longer hours and pick up more shifts during school holidays. Now that Freya is at school, the absence of wraparound care and holiday clubs makes employment far more complicated. School holidays are particularly difficult, especially as they coincide with the busiest period for her employer. Sometimes Freya goes to work with her mum at the café, sitting quietly with colouring books and chatting to tourists. She enjoys the attention and the sense of importance, but her mum finds it stressful, trying to keep Freya occupied while doing her job. Freya’s younger sister can attend nursery year‑round, but this is reliant on whether one parent is able to get her there, whilst juggling work commitments.

The family’s disposable income is around £22,204 a year [i], or roughly £427 a week, still well below the UK median, with around 60% of households who are better off.  Rising fuel prices, food costs, and the lack of affordable childcare mean that even small unexpected expenses can undermine careful planning.  If they were able to afford an acceptable standard of living, their costs would be up to 60% higher than a similar family living in a UK mainland urban area [ii].

Their heating system is disjointed: they have an inefficient converted oil fired rayburn in the kitchen with a radiator and an open fire in the living room with panel heaters in the bedrooms and a heat bulb in the bathroom. The cost of oil has doubled recently and could go higher. To fill their tank could cost over £1,000, depending on how much they keep the heating on, could require 2-3 tanks per year. The building is inefficient it feels like all of the heat disappears out the chimney and through the draughts so they try to minimise their use of the oil boiler and panel heaters. They collect drift wood from the beach, surplus pallets from a shop nearby and make paper brickettes to burn on the open fire.  They do have a peat bank and cut and cure peats so they have a variety of fuels to burn on their fire but as both parents work they are not home to keep the fire going.

Freya’s parents have debated whether it would make more sense for her mum to stop working altogether, as benefits might replace much of her income. But past experiences of confusion around the benefits system left the family in debt, an experience that frightened them deeply. Since then, their priority has been to keep their heads above water, even if that limits future earning potential, and getting out of the house is beneficial to Freya’s mum.

Their community is friendly and welcoming. People wave as they walk to school or work, and events at the local hall are important moments of connection for the girls. Still, Freya’s mum is conscious that she has no one close by she could rely on in a crisis. Accessing services like the GP often depends on fitting around lifts from neighbours or infrequent transport, adding another layer of stress.

The family owns their home outright, believing they could improve it over time. In reality, work pressures mean there is little time or money for repairs, though they are on a waiting list for an energy efficiency grant [iii]. The house is in poor condition, with weather sometimes driving into the children’s bedroom, forcing the family to sleep together for warmth and safety. Plans to build an extension are now far beyond reach.

For Freya, childhood feels mostly secure and loving. She grows up surrounded by care, routine, and a close‑knit environment. But beneath this stability is constant parental effort and quiet worry. Her life is shaped by a family working hard to hold things together; not in crisis, but always balancing.