When Christina swept up her children and fled with just the clothes on their backs to a domestic violence refuge 13 months ago, she learned for the first time how it wears you down to live in constant fear of running out of money.
“You allocate the money you have for food and heating but you quickly begin to understand that you and your children cannot enjoy your life,” said the 37-year-old, whose three children are all under 12. “You can’t go out to an occasional restaurant and have a meal cooked for you, you can’t take the kids to fun activities, there is no travel money. I do financial calculations just to take my children on the bus because it means we will have to go without somewhere down the line.”
