10/01/2012 Newsround

Hi, guys, welcome along. This is Newsround, coming to you live just

after five with Ore and Leah. Tonight, we're talking about money,

and especially kids and their families who are seriously

struggling. Coming up in the next eight minutes... Hayley's been to

meet two sisters whose family once needed very little, but have since

lost a lot. And she's been talking to one girl dealing with money

problems, AND looking after her dad. So with the UK suffering with lots

of money problems at the moment, we keep hearing about families up and

down the country struggling for cash. And according to a group of

children's charities, the problem is getting worse. End Child Poverty

have today released figures that say one in five children in the UK

are living in poverty. And even the Government admits there's a big

problem, putting the number of children living below the poverty

line at around 3.5 million. To be below the poverty line basically

means that aside from the costs of paying for your home, each person

in a family has less than �12 to live off per day. So exactly what

is it like to live a life where you've got to make every penny

count? In the first of her two reports, Hayley meets Jade-Joy and

Jasmine, who used to be pretty well off but for whom a lot has changed

in the last few years. This is Jade-Joy and Jasmine and their mum

and dad. Just a few years ago, this family had two jobs, and enough

money for anything they needed. But now, things are different. My dad

had to change job, to a less paying job. And my mum could not work

because she was poorly. What has been the hardest part? Everybody

having a new pencil cases, and I'm sticking with the same one. What is

Christmas like? It was OK before, until we didn't have much money,

and gradually the presence got smaller and smaller. And it did not

seem a very family like. But worse than that, the girls' parents even

struggled to get food on the table. That is where food banks coming.

Everything here has been donated, and when things get tough, the

girls get a delivery of food to keep them going. We get it when we

needed. So we are not hungry all the time. But these girls are not

the only ones in this situation. There are thousands of families who

do not have enough money at the moment. But thanks to things like

food banks and other charities, they can get help. Joining us in

the studio now is Graham Whittan, from End Child Poverty. Welcome to

the show, Graham. A lot of people might have thought, those girls are

not all that poor. What would you say poverty is? It affects children

in different ways. We are talking about �12 a day, and children

living in poverty often live in cold homes, struggled to do well at

school. They might miss out on things which other children take

for granted, things like school trips. We know that in recent years,

times have got really hard, with families going into debt, and

struggling to afford food. But lots of people are having to spend less,

so what is the difference? We all know, the cost of living has gone

up in recent years, and it affects people on lower incomes

particularly. And we know that in recent years, a lot of parents have

lost their jobs, and are struggling to find work. It is hard for those

families. As you say, it is hard, but that does not necessarily mean

that people have got a bad life, does it? No, poverty affects people,

and children, in different ways. Lots of families are working really

hard to lift themselves out of poverty. We want families to

understand that there are lots of charities helping people up and

down the country. So make sure you're getting everything you're

entitled to. Now for the second of our two reports in which Hayley has

been to meet Chantel, who's a full- time carer for her dad. Meet

Chantel. She lives with her dad, Michael, and over the last few

years, they haven't had much money to live on. My dad had a heart

attack, and he could not work any more. He was on benefits, which is

money you get from the Government to live on. It means that you can

get food and stuff. Because I am my dad's career, I have to cook and

clean and stuff around the house, like normal parents would do. I

help my dad with the shopping, getting things off the shelf,

putting them in the trolley, and stuff like that. We have to be

careful with money, because we have got to pay the bills, and make sure

we have a roof over our head, make sure we have food. These guys have

about �190 a week to live on. �80 goes on bills, �70 goes on food,

�10 goes on items like cleaning products and toilet paper, leaving

only �30 for anything else like school shoes, presence, treats, it

is not much, is it? No. We only had a pot of beans and two slices of

bread. How do you cope with that? do not really worry about money, I

just think about other people in the world who have not got anything.

Thanks, Chantel, and thanks very much, Hayley. Now, the BBC has

spoken to the Government about the problem and they've said they are

trying their best to tackle child poverty in Britain. Ore has got

more details. Yes, they've promised to help those families who are

struggling by cutting or freezing some taxes and giving them more

free childcare. They also say changes they're making to the

benefits system will mean three million households will soon be

better off. Now you don't have to be living in poverty to have felt

the effects of the recession. We've been asking you guys online whether

your families have had to cut back or make changes over the past few

She says, it was better because it was not all about the presents.

This one says, the recession has not affected my family as much as

it has affected some of my friends, which we are very grateful for,

because some of my friends have had to cut down a lot. This one says,

everyone else I know is getting on fine, which makes me sad. And if

you want to have your say, head over to the Newsround website,

where we've also got loads on all the day's top stories. That's us