'I am a good mother, worker and citizen, but I have no future here'
Are you one of Ireland's new poor middle class, living month to month with no reserves for emergencies? Are you penalised for earning 'too much'? Kerry Gordon feels that she is
You do not know me. I am invisible. I am not living in poverty. I am a member of Ireland's new poor middle class. I cannot afford to live in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland anymore.
Let me introduce myself -- my name is Kerry and I am 35 years old. I'm a devoted mother to a beautiful five-year-old daughter, a full-time working professional and a good citizen. My only 'crime' is that I am a single parent with a single income. I have a good and worthwhile job that makes a contribution to the community and my daughter is happily settled in an excellent school. I participate in Ireland economically, intellectually and socially and am not a burden on the State.
Yet this same State has let me and my daughter down. What I give to the economy and to our society is being disregarded.
My main problem is that I don't own a house. I rent and because rents are now rising, my rent in Wicklow has gone up by 17 per cent. Even though I have no debts, I cannot afford to pay my rent anymore. How can anybody afford the rent for even a one-bed apartment which costs €1,200 a month when living costs are excruciatingly high? Some 85 per cent of my salary now goes on rent and utility bills. That leaves very little to pay for food, clothes, petrol and everything else.
There is no State assistance for me because I earn "too much", according to the guidelines set down by the Government. I cannot afford to buy a house and have little hope in the farcical lottery that is Affordable Housing.
I am being squeezed in the current economic climate.
While I get nothing from the State, I am less well off in real terms than many people who are earning less and able to claim government assistance. I am being penalised because I work and try to sustain a quality of life for my daughter by limiting her commuting time and the time she spends in childcare. I have no reserves. I cannot afford to save. If the unexpected were to happen, I would not be able to cope financially.
And so I find myself with three options. I could join the ranks of the unemployed, apply for State benefits, try to get a house or flat on the housing list. I could move house again, uproot my little girl (the fourth such move in her short life), take her away from her school, friends and family, face into increased commute times and even more time apart for both of us.
Or I could emigrate, start again, alone, in another country where I can afford to live. Whichever way I look at it, the prospects for me and my daughter are bleak.
I am not alone in this. There are many people, hidden from society, who are in the same boat. They, like me, are living month to month to keep the roof over their heads, to maintain a basic standard of living. Most are engulfed by spiralling debts. Most struggle to cover the cost of childcare, ever increasing mortgage repayments or rents, food and utility bills in the face of nominal wage or salary increases. They have no options, no flexibility and in many cases, no future in this country.
Are we once more facing into the emigration patterns we saw in Ireland in the Eighties and early Nineties? Is another generation going to be forced to make their future abroad because they cannot afford to be at home -- not because there are no jobs for them, but because the money they earn simply cannot possibly meet their outgoings? Who is driving this modern Ireland? Who is at the forefront of the economic and social policy?
In the UK, the authorities have embarked on a drive to provide housing for all. The belief is that everybody should have the opportunity to have a decent home, whether through renting or ownership. Affordable homes are provided at sub-market prices for those families earning up to stg£60,000 (€87,000).
In Wicklow, the guidelines say that you cannot earn more than €40,000 to qualify for an affordable house. The cut-points in Ireland are archaic and the income cut-off levels unrealistic. Only a handful of houses are available, and only in certain locations.
Our Government urgently needs to change and re-evaluate its cut-off levels. It needs to introduce dramatic and innovative housing initiatives that have been successful in other countries. Initiatives that look at those on incomes from €25,000 to €75,000. Private rented housing is vital to a growing economy and the sector needs support. More homes need to be built for a population that is growing but at a price that they can afford.
On my doorstep, work is to begin on yet another playground for the very wealthy -- the Greystones Marina. In an adjoining village, a €60m centre is due to be completed in 2008. The centre includes a mix of retail and residential as well as a nursing home, medical centre, gym and creche. We of the poor middle class will never have the option to live there because we will not be able to afford to buy or rent even the smallest apartment. Instead, the apartments will be bought by investors who will rent them out at so-called "market rates" -- and people like me will once again be priced out of the market.
I should have the chance to buy a home to gain some security. I know that in 11 months I will have to move again when my rent is once more increased. All I want is to live and raise my daughter in a place that we can be proud of, within a community that is sustainable. Not where I am at the mercy of a landlord's rent increase, where I have to move my daughter year after year to find accommodation we can afford.
The "future" could be such an exciting word. Not in my world. I cannot sustain the standard of living I have. I cannot make any provisions for the future. If it were possible for me to stay in Ireland, I would be looking at a future entirely reliant on State benefit. I have no capacity to save, no chance of engaging in a pension plan. Fast forward a few years and yes, I will be a burden on the State as will thousands of others, thousands who have spent the best part of their lives working -- and for what? Our Government has turned a blind eye -- why? Because a booming economy wins votes at the ballot box.
Bertie came to my daughter's school when he was electioneering. She was so excited to meet him, "the boss of Ireland". Will he go back to her school, hold her hand, look into her twinkling eyes full of hope and explain to her why her mummy is so sad? Why she will have to leave her school friends, her family, and her home?
No, it will be me who will have to explain.
