The single parent
Erica and her sons, Hull.

Video transcript

My name's Erica, I'm a single mum and I live in Easington near Hull. I'm a single mum of five; ages 26 down to the youngest, 14. I'm also a grandma of two. The eldest three children are living in Hull and the youngest two are living here with me.

The majority of my income comes from benefits and child tax credits. I do part-time cleaning, which has cut down from what it used to be. I did have, about two years ago, financial problems; I went to see the Citizens Advice. They set out a plan; they did all the letters to all the companies, they sorted everything out so now I'm paying some of that back each month.

With the Credit Crunch, I would say my finances have changed. I would not go out and buy something, just for the sake of buying it like I used to. Gas and electricity have gone up; I'm simply putting more and more in the meter. With a really cold winter it's costing us a fortune because we need the heat. I've lost a few of my favourite shops [laughs] like Woolworths, closed down near us.

In Withernsea there's not a lot of other shops but there you could go in and get everything; stationary for the kids for school, clothes for my grandkids and what have you and toys and things like that. It's like going into Hull to find everything; if it's just me then it's not too bad but if you take the kids with you it costs a fortune.

I rely on the buses, I can't drive. With the way the financial situation is at the moment, if they start cutting the buses down, it's going to really affect us. My two youngest that are here, unless they get somewhere to live in town, they're not going to be able to get a job which means they're going to be on the social…it's just a no-win situation.

I bank with Lloyds TSB. I've banked with them for over 26 years. Because it's only a small branch, there's only, I think, three servers whereas in town you don't get to know people whereas I've known these for years and unless a different face comes in you can go straight to somebody. They'll know your name and everything it's great. One of the family members recommended me there and I've over the years recommended all my children to it.

My eldest was in a brilliant job just before Christmas. About two weeks before Christmas, he got laid off, along with 15 other workers so he's struggling at the moment with a mortgage and my grandson. If you can't pay the mortgage, they'll get the house repossessed - I'd end up with them back here so it would be even more struggle. Take each day as it comes.