UK newspaper front pages 6 July 2015

UK TV Documentaries on Poverty/Homelessness/Unemployment 2008-2014

BBC 1 Panorama

Workers on the Breadline: Millions of British workers are being paid too little to live on. Richard Bilton reports.  First broadcast: 06 Oct 2014

Britain's Homeless Families: Reporter Richard Bilton meets the homeless families forced out by private landlords. First broadcast: 23 Jun 2014

Don't Cap My Benefits: Panorama follows some of the people most affected by the government's benefits changes. First broadcast: 10 Apr 2014

Hungry Britain?: Darragh MacIntyre investigates the dramatic rise in the number of food banks in Britain. First broadcast: 03 Mar 2014

Jobs for the Boys?: Sol Campbell investigates the unemployment rate for young black British men. First broadcast: 13 May 2013

Britain's Hidden Housing Crisis: Panorama Special revealing the impact of the current housing crisis engulfing Britain. First broadcast: 13 Dec 2012

Undercover: Debt on the Doorstep: Panorama investigates a world of cash on the doorstep and high interest rates. First broadcast: 01 Oct 2012

Trouble on the Estate: Panorama visits a housing estate in Blackburn, learning what it is like to live there. First broadcast: 11 Sep 2012

Britain on the Brink: Back to the 70s?: Panorama asks whether Britain is able to cope with a new age of austerity. First broadcast: 09 Jul 2012

How to Survive the Meltdown: Panorama investigates how Britain plc could survive the economic crisis. First broadcast: 12 Dec 2011

Inside the Riots: Panorama speaks to police and rioters in Manchester to get the inside story of the riots. First broadcast: 14 Nov 2011

All Work and Low Pay: Panorama reveals how some employers use loopholes to pay below the national minimum wage. First broadcast: 03 Oct 2011

The August Riots: The full story of the August riots. What has led a generation to violence? First broadcast: 15 Aug 2011

Council Houses: Cheats and Victims: The stories of families struggling to get by on the waiting list for social housing. First broadcast: 04 May 2011

Finished at Fifty?: How some over-50s now face rejection letters and money worries after a lifetime at work. First broadcast: 04 Apr 2011

The Big Squeeze: Panorama unveils research which shows that most of us are poorer than we were in 2009. First broadcast: 28 Mar 2011

The Cuts - Can You Fight Back?: Reporter Shelley Jofre looks at the fight to save frontline services across the country. First broadcast: 17 May 2010

Return of the Real Apprentices: Panorama follows the fortunes of four young people searching for work in Swindon. First broadcast: 26 Apr 2010

The Truth About Spending Cuts: John Ware challenges politicians about their plans to slash public spending.  First broadcast: 28 Sep 2009

The Year Britain's Bubble Burst: BBC Business Editor Robert Peston reflects on the events that rocked the economy in 2008. First broadcast: 22 Dec 2008

How the Economy Got Personal: Jeremy Vine presents personal stories of regular Britons affected by the credit crunch. First broadcast: 01 Sep 2008

Britain on the Sick: Shelley Jofre examines the Government's tough new benefit rules. First broadcast: 19 May 2008

Feeling the Pinch: Declan Curry investigates how Britain will cope during the financial year ahead. First broadcast: 14 Apr 2008

 

BBC 1

Jobless: As the unemployment statistics start to climb once more, multi BAFTA winning film-maker Brian Woods goes behind the numbers to the people they represent, and presents his take on the recession. Tue 9 Mar 2010

Poor Kids: Documentary telling the stories of some of the 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. Mon 22 Aug 2011

Britain’s Hidden Hungry: As of 2012, more than 170,000 people are believed to be dependent on a chain of 300 foodbanks run by a Christian charity, the Trussell Trust. Bafta award winning film-maker David Modell has spent six months at the Coventry foodbank following the stories of Charlotte, Sandra and Kelly to find out how, in 2012, so many Britons are suffering genuine and prolonged bouts of real hunger. Wed 28 Nov 2012

Inside Out East Midlands: Coping with Poverty: Tony Roe visits a Loughborough estate which is one of the most deprived in the East Midlands. The estate had a terrible reputation four years ago but has now transformed itself as a result of the community helping each other. Cherie Tinenti runs an advice and help centre whilst estate residents help feed those in need. Mon 26 Nov 2012

Living with Poverty (with OU): Hard-hitting documentaries offering insights into the nature and extent of poverty today. Each film explores an area of England and records the stories of people who live on or close to the so-called breadline.  4 films. May 2013. 

 

BBC 3

Young, Jobless and Living at Home. Tough times have hit Britain and for young people it is the hardest time to find a job since the 1980s. Greg James finds out what it's like to be young, unemployed and living with your parents when he follows graduates and school leavers chasing jobs in the worst job market in decades. Sun 10 Apr 2011

Growing Up Poor: Following teenagers dealing with the pressures of growing up with one similarity - they are all surviving on under £10 a day. 2 episodes. November-December 2014.

 

BBC 1 Scotland

The Scheme: An observed documentary series following the dramatic and often emotional highs and lows of daily life for six different families all living in one large housing scheme in Kilmarnock. 5 episodes, May 2010- July 2011

 

BBC 1 Northern Ireland

The Estate: Fly-on-the-wall documentary series charting a year in the lives of the residents of a Coleraine housing estate in Ballysally. 8 episodes. February-May 2012.

 

BBC 1 Wales

Swansea: Living on the Streets: hard-hitting documentary series on homelessness. 3 episodes. February 2014

Swansea: back on the Streets. 3 episodes. July 2014.

 

Channel 4

How the Other Half Live: Documentary series that aims to show what it means to grow up in poverty in 21st-century Britain. In each episode, a wealthy family decides to assist one that is living below the poverty line. Series 1, 3 episodes , 2009; Series 2, 7 episodes, 2010. 

Skint: Intimate stories of how people live with the devastating effects of long-term unemployment. Series 1, 4 episodes. June 2013.

Benefits Street: This documentary series reveals the reality of life on benefits, as the residents of one of Britain's most benefit-dependent streets invite cameras into their tight-knit community. Series 1, 5 episodes, January 2014. Series 2 for 2015.

 

Channel 5

On Benefits and Proud: With a fifth of every pound we pay in tax going directly to support benefit claimants, not everyone is happy with who gets what. 14 October 2013.

Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole: We get up close and personal with the real people behind the headlines as it explores the lives of those living on benefits. Series 1, 6 episodes, June/July 2014. Series 2, November/December 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Euro Crisis Song Lyrics

The Euro Crisis Song

http://www.theguardian.com/business/video/2011/jul/14/euro-crisis-song-video

Credits

Music and Lyrics: David Holmes and Andrew Bean

Additional Vocals: Dan McElroy
Animation and Design: Adam Sakellarides and Lisa Rucker
Production: Guardian and Studio 20 NYU
 

Lyrics

Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain

Who’s going to bail them out?

Greece’s sovereign debt crisis

Brought the government
To the brink of crisis

As public fury over

Savage austerity measures

Erupted in pitched battles with police

On the streets of Athens

There’s much to blame for this crisis,

Deregulation, speculation and the mortgage scam.

It started in the late 1990s

When European nations said ‘let’s get together!’

Big deal countries with big deal currencies,

The Netherlands, France and Germany,

Didn’t want everybody in their club.

Greece only got in ‘cause of a numbers flub.

When you use the Euro, there’s just one catch,

When things get rough, you can’t devalue cash.

Devaluation helps when recession’s afoot

It’s easier for foreigners to buy your goods.

When markets crashed in the Eurozone,

Speculators said Greece can’t pay their loans,

Since they use the Euro they can’t avoid this mess

By printing more money to refinance debt.

But if PIGS

Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain

Can’t pay their debts

Who’s going to bail them out?

There’s the Central Bank

Don’t take that money ‘less you save that money

And the IMF

Who’s to say it won’t happen again

They call you PIGS but they don’t understand

You are not the only ones
To spend more than you can.
And now you might default
You’re feeling so deflated.
This Euro Crisis left us all so jaded.

It has emerged that Greece will not be able

To meet the terms of last year’s rescue
And is hoping to ask the Eurozone for more funds

In the noughties low interest inflation

Made them look so strong.
Underneath the growth and easy spending
Was the fact that it was backed by foreign funds.
Three nations have been given bailout cheques,
Greece, Ireland, Portugal – could Spain be next?
Money never comes without strings attached,
Austerity measures designed to save cash,
Greeks spent too much, couldn’t raise enough tax,
Cut payments of debt with help from Goldman Sachs.
Austerity measures were very stern,
Strikes and riots causing Athens to burn.
It’s not about the bailouts or the debt or the mobs,
At the end of the day it’s all about jobs.
Unemployment for some is over 20%,
What’s a billion dollar bailout
When you can’t pay your rent?

But if PIGS

Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain

Can’t pay their debts

Who’s going to bail them out?

There’s the Central Bank

Don’t take that money ‘less you save that money

And the IMF

Who’s to say it won’t happen again

They call you PIGS but they don’t understand

You are not the only ones
To spend more than you can.
And now you might default
You’re feeling so deflated.
This Euro Crisis left us all so jaded.

Please tell me that we’ll make it through,

I know you think it can’t happen to you.
Good God, have you heard the news,
Sovereign debt crisis, it’s so sad but true

P

Please tell me that we’ll make it through,

I

I know you think it can’t happen to you.

G

Greece can cause Europe’s bank to bust.

S

Superpower dreams, all turned to dust?