It’s friday, the last day of living below the line. We’re upping the ante a little this evening by having a couple of friends over and attempting to dine below the line. I’m still trying to work out if I can cook three courses for 33p per person. Maybe two is enough.
In the meantime, I wanted to mention our little exception. Lou and I have been eating for £1 a day this week, but Zach hasn’t. He’s carried on as normal. And that’s obviously a big privilege. If you’re actually living below the poverty line, you don’t get to choose differently for your children. There’s been plenty to think about this week, but perhaps the thing I’m most thankful for is that we’re not bringing Zach up in extreme poverty.
The Earthbound Report 
Been great following you Jeremy for your week of Live Below the Line. The comment on your son is very poignant and when we consider most people living in extreme poverty have 4 or more children. We can really start to understand the complexities and struggles. As a Global Poverty Project presenter I often get asked about this and told ‘If we are getting more people out of extreme poverty there will be too many people in the world.’ The facts are the more developed a country and it’s population becomes, the less children per mother. This is thanks to things like better education, family planing, nutrition, reduced infant mortality and reliance on heavily polluting technologies. So we are perpetuating a faster rising global population allowing people live in extreme poverty. It is then at this point we need to make wealth history and encourage some voluntary simplicity…
I’ll be continuing to Live Below the Line for a few more weeks in an attempt for more awareness and advocacy (and the freedom to do it!) so feel free to continue to follow along… http://lunnyLBTL.wordpress.com
Yes, that’s something to remind people of when they start fretting about overpopulation – get involved in ending extreme poverty.
Thanks for your support over the past few days. I’ve got nothing but admiration for the challenge you’ve taken on yourself. I’ll be dropping by to see how you’re getting on.