Breadline Kids: Glasgow single mum Marie to tell BBC of struggling to make ends meet

Marie McCormack and her daughter Olivia, 8, will feature on Breadline Kids which airs on BBC One Scotland tonight at 9pm.

The 49-year-old, from Pollokshields let BBC camera crews into her life as a busy single mum and employee of the High Rise Bakers in the Gorbals area of Glasgow.

She said: “I have a job and I get a living wage but it is still hard when you’re a single parent and you have kids.

“You have bills to pay and they are wanting to do things like go on holiday.

“I just find it is always a struggle and I always think about how am I going to do things. “

Marie is not alone as the documentary focuses on the fact that a quarter of Scotland’s children are living in poverty and, shockingly, more than two thirds of that number come from a family where at least one parent works.

Marie, who is also mum to a 19-year-old teenager who does not feature on the documentary, admits her health is suffering as she worries about how she’s going to feed her kids.

But it is the thought of her kids doing well in life and getting an education which keeps her going. Her son is already studying neuro science at college while daughter Olivia is a pupil at Glendale Primary School.

She said: “I never had the encouragement myself to get a good education so I have always encouraged my children. I could have never believed my son was going on to do neuro science.

“That keeps me going because of how I was myself when I was growing up. I don’t want my kids to have that struggle. I want them to have a better life so that is what keeps me going.

“The struggle is not pleasant. It is hard and it wears you down. I don’t want that for my children, I want them to enjoy life and be happy.”

Marie has become a champion for other families in a similar situation and is involved in the Poverty Truth Commission.

She said: “Someone has to do it. If I don’t do it,who will?”

Watch the show on BBC One at 9pm tonight.