Buzzin TV

Channel 4

How The Other Half Live is an intriguing series on Channel 4, made by the same team that produced The Secret Millionaire.

The documentary series follows the lives of two families, as a wealthy family agrees to assist a family that is living below the poverty line.

There are almost four million children living below the poverty line in the UK. The effects of growing up in poverty can last a lifetime: average life expectancy in the UK is 79; for someone growing up in poverty it is ten years less.

The first episode of the second series explored the friendship that formed between two eight year old girls when the families were brought together for the programme.

Rebecca Abingdon lives with her dad David, mum Angie and brother George in the chocolate box Cotswold countryside. David is the MD of a marketing business, and a multi-millionaire.

But just a few miles away Iris lives on the borderline of poverty. Her mother Cal spent 11 years travelling in a new age community before falling pregnant and making what should have been a life changing decision to study law.

Despite gaining a first class hons, a masters with distinction and completing her bar exams, Cal is unable to find a pupillage that will enable her to qualify as a barrister.

She is laden with debt and despite holding down a couple of jobs the family are on the breadline and Cal has debts of £20,000.

The Abingdon’s help out with cash spend on kids clothes and the like, but Iris insists that her mother should pay off some of her debt.

Meanwhile David attempts pulling a favour from some of his own contacts in the law business and is disgusted to learn that there is one pupilage offered for every 350 or so law graduates.

In the meantime David is reminded of his own humble upbringing and decides to take his own children to visit the house where he grew up and they cannot believe the size of his family home, which is a normal house.

Whilst there is a bond between the two families, I couldn’t help wondering what would happen in the future as there seemed to be little hope for Cal fulfilling her dream.

One thing that did come through was that rich or poor both families had plenty of love, something that is missing a lot of the time in this day and age.