Between 2019 and 2023, I cut three films directed by Jezza Neumann focusing on poverty in Britain for Channel 4 Dispatches. The first one, 'Growing Up Poor: Britains's Breadline Kids' was aired just before the 2019 General Elections. It had a big impact and was mentioned during the campaign. The second was about the consequences of COVID on children and the third on the impact of the cost of living rise on pensioners.
BAFTA nominated for Best Current Affairs programme
In Britain today 4.1 million children are growing up in poverty. Narrated by Sheridan Smith OBE actress and singer and from BAFTA-winning director Jezza Neumann comes a Dispatches special. As Channel 4 spent a year with three children and their families to show what life is like when you don’t have enough money for essentials. Told first hand through the children’s perspectives who are growing up in poverty, this is their story, in their words.
"A devastating indictment of 2019 Britain that should be watched by every politician in this country" iNews
“The most articulate film about poverty I’ve ever seen ” Broadcast
"Channel 4’s shocking Dispatches on child poverty is the reality check this election needs" New Statesman
“Watching the Channel 4 Dispatches’ Growing Up Poor, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a historical piece about child poverty in Victorian times. The documentary revealed the desperate reality confronting families up and down the country." Jenna Norman - Huffington Post
"Why isn't this issue front and centre of the election agenda?" Keith Watson - Metro
"It is a documentary to inspire fury. It is full of stories that should inspire fundamental change. Britain’s Breadline Kids are the children that Prime Minister Boris Johnson cannot deny…"Adrian Lobb - The Big Issue
"The documentary feels like a landmark moment in mainstream social affairs reporting, and not just for its unusual online reach ahead of the programme airing. It avoids all the pitfalls of the genre that’s come to be known as 'poverty porn'." Anoosh Chakelian
"You would call Growing Up Poor: Britain’s Breadline Kids (Channel 4) Dickensian if the word didn’t carry connotations of picaresque charm and a notion that things would come right in the end." Lucy Mangan
"Austerity's shocking impacts exposed." ” Ammar Kalia - The Guardian
“The most articulate film about poverty I’ve ever seen ” Broadcast
"Channel 4’s shocking Dispatches on child poverty is the reality check this election needs" New Statesman
“Watching the Channel 4 Dispatches’ Growing Up Poor, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a historical piece about child poverty in Victorian times. The documentary revealed the desperate reality confronting families up and down the country." Jenna Norman - Huffington Post
"Why isn't this issue front and centre of the election agenda?" Keith Watson - Metro
"It is a documentary to inspire fury. It is full of stories that should inspire fundamental change. Britain’s Breadline Kids are the children that Prime Minister Boris Johnson cannot deny…"Adrian Lobb - The Big Issue
"The documentary feels like a landmark moment in mainstream social affairs reporting, and not just for its unusual online reach ahead of the programme airing. It avoids all the pitfalls of the genre that’s come to be known as 'poverty porn'." Anoosh Chakelian
"You would call Growing Up Poor: Britain’s Breadline Kids (Channel 4) Dickensian if the word didn’t carry connotations of picaresque charm and a notion that things would come right in the end." Lucy Mangan
"Austerity's shocking impacts exposed." ” Ammar Kalia - The Guardian
The Channel 4 team spent a summer term with three boys from the same class, struggling with poverty, homelessness and overcrowding.
These three kids speak for over 4 million children growing up in poverty, and the three quarters of a million that are homeless or in over-crowded housing in Britain today. As the safety net of the temporary universal credit uplift disappears, the furlough scheme now over, fuel prices at an all-time high, and landlords once again able to evict tenants, homelessness is threatening some of Britain’s most vulnerable children. Children’s charities warn a perfect storm is coming.
Farley Junior Academy is on the edge of Luton, in one of the most deprived wards in Britain. During the pandemic the partial closure of the airport – the biggest source of jobs in the area – hit the town hard. Schools across Luton found families were struggling more than ever.
Kai, Qasim and Yaqub, are in Year 4 and all get help from the school’s pastoral care team, Alefa and Nicola.
“A blood-boiling urgent documentary that follows three young boys in Luton who are part of the 1.5 million ‘hidden homeless’” - Hollie Richardson - The Guardian
One in five pensioners – 2.1 million – are living in poverty in the UK. In this intimate and moving portrayal of later life, Dispatches follows four older people through winter, as they struggle to make ends meet against a backdrop of sky-high energy bills and soaring inflation.
John, 76, is the last person left alive in his family. He lives on his own in Sunderland in the home he used to share with his parents, brother and sister – and every day visits their graves. His fridge is empty and switched off. At night he sits in darkness, too worried about fuel bills to turn the lights on.
On the other side of the Tyne, 68-year-old Doreen – who has only had two visitors in the 38 years she’s lived there – goes to bed early to stay warm. And in rural Leicestershire, married couple Harry, 82, and Christine, 77, are skipping dinner as they desperately try to cut costs. Harry has also had to give up his greatest passion to save money.
The stories of John, Doreen, Harry and Christine vividly bring to life the difficult decisions facing pensioners on low incomes in Britain, and put a human face on the isolation, loneliness and stress that comes with living life on the brink.
"This powerful documentary is a must-watch." - Hollie Richardson - The Guardian
"A new documentary will lay bare the struggle of our forgotten pensioners, as statistics reveal 2.1million live in poverty." - Laura Armstrong - Sunday Mirror
“This shocking film paints a harrowing picture of poverty in later life. Sadly, we know this is a reality for far too many older people who call our helpline every day and tell us they are sitting in the dark, eating less and living in a cold home.”
John Palmer, Director of Policy & Communications at Independent Age
John Palmer, Director of Policy & Communications at Independent Age
