6.2. Normas Técnicas
6.2.3. Aplicación de la NIC 12 – Impuesto a las Ganancias
For those who had a good social support network, financial and practical support from friends and neighbours was a common and important strategy for managing an income crisis. Financial support from friends varied in type and scale:
•
Small-scale, the occasional bit of bread or cup of sugar, part of a reciprocal relationship but without immediate expectation of return or repayment.•
Loans of more substantial amounts of money: in these cases the participant often reported having had to ask for the money, something which could be difficult or degrading. Many loans came with firm expectations that they would be paid back, either in weekly re-instalments (which themselves could put a strain on finances and relationships) or once the financial situation was restored.•
Some of the most moving stories were of unsolicited gifts because friends knew they were in a ‘tight spot’ even if they found it too difficult to ask for help directly:‘People would leave money in my pockets and things when I wasn’t there… I would go and meet my friend for a coffee and I’d turn round and there’d be a tenner in my pocket when I left. How did that get in there? People are like that because I won’t take money, and I won’t take things. So people bring me things and I won’t take them, so they have to sneak things into my pockets and leave things on the side or I’d come home and there’d be a bag of something on the doorstep or yes, money in my bank account and things like that.’ Janey, mother from Epsom.
•
In another example, Liam from Epsom, who lived alone, was given a TV by a neighbour who was replacing their own set. The neighbour then paid for an annual TV licence as a birthday present. Others, such as Wendy, a single mother visiting North Cotswolds Foodbank because of difficulty covering training expenses, experienced longer-term support from a generous friend, in her case £100 per month towards childcare costs to help her complete the college course.•
Friends also provided valuable practical support, such as help with childcare or transport, which itself had a financial benefit. Again practical support was often reciprocal, with participants able to offer help with gardening or other practical tasks as part of the relationship.However, relying on friends for help was not an easy strategy. Participants spoke of it with reluctance or mentioned being too proud or ashamed to ask. Some participants regarded their friends as being unable to help, particularly if they were in a similar situation or if it was around Christmas.
‘I don’t like to have to keep asking him, you know, and it’s just horrible… once in a blue moon really… only to tide me when my benefits have been cut. I try not to. It’s a terrible thing.’ Alex, single male, Durham
Others received help from friends but were acutely aware of being a burden on them:
‘I have eaten with the family, but as I say they are on low incomes so I have said to them, “Well look, feed your kids, do whatever you have got to do”. What they started doing was cutting down on their food to feed me.’
In this example, where the participant was homeless and staying with a family who themselves had problems with benefit payments, the food bank played a crucial role in easing his mind about not being a danger to their financial survival.
Social support
The social support provided by friends could be a lifeline. Sometimes this was low-level, ongoing support such as popping in for a chat or giving the participant an excuse to get out of the house. In other examples the support was much more acute and influential. One participant described how a neighbour rescued him at a particularly low point:
‘… I had given up, I just didn’t care. I sort of locked myself away and just sat in me bedroom reading, and that was it. I got to one point… [I had] no gas and electric or anything and my neighbours thought I had done a runner because obviously no lights on at all, for two weeks, at night. And one of my neighbours came round, he actually broke my front door in, to see whether I was out or not and if I was… to make sure I was alright. And [he] sort of dragged me out and bought my shopping, gas and electric but it was only when that happened and sort of clicked with me and I was thinking, yes, I have got to do something, I have got to pull myself out of this, everyone has problems with losing family members, and so then I started trying to sort myself out.’ Liam, single male from Epsom, living alone and struggling with depression since the death of this father, tipped into financial crisis because of a JSA sanction for missed appointments.