EastEnders fans all have the same complaint about Stacey Slater’s poverty storyline. The single mum has struggling to cope with the cost of living crisis.
Viewers watched this week as Stacey finally got rid of her debt to the loan shark – only to be hit with a huge electricity bill. At the end of her tether, Stacey took drastic action. She turned to selling intimate pictures of herself online to bring in cash.
But fans have a huge problem with the storyline. And it’s not with Stacey’s actions – it’s everyone else she lives with.
Not only does Stacey own her own business – a food van called Stacey’s Baps – but she lives with five working adults. And for fans her being so hard up just doesn’t make sense.
One viewer said: “You can see none of theses writers really have much clue about single parents struggling and poverty even with the cost of living. Six adults, three children, adults all working and Stacey still struggling even with Martin’s help.
“No one in their right mind would have that many people in their house and not paying their way, when you’re struggling to feed your kids and pay your bills and funding everyone on your own wages with food and bills. A single room share in London is minimum £650 not just chucking a few quid here and there, even minimal research would be good writers.
EastEnders fans hit out at problem storyline
“I mean Nish and Suki would charge everyone a share of renting a room as it’s a glorified HMO. She can’t feed her kids in the morning but owns a food van, make it make sense. Please sort it out, it just ridiculous.”
Another fan said: “She literally runs her own ‘bap’ van, give them a bacon or sausage sandwich for breakfast.” A further fan said: “Six adults are living there, the writers are writing like they expect one person, a single mother whose three kids should be main priority, to shoulder everything.
“Of course Electric/Gas/Food etc will increase ten folds if you have that many people there and none are hardly contributing. Even if they are on a low income they still have to find it anyway if they weren’t living at her house to support themselves.
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“I just think it would make more sense if they researched it better instead of seeing an opportunity to rinse a story for all it’s worth without it having much structure.”
Another raged: “I can understand all the expenses causing problems, my main issue is it seems in a household full of people it seems to be just Stacey and the kids who seem to be struggling, all the other adults seem fine.
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“I just find it hard to believe that in a household of six adults only one of them seems to give the kids a second thought. Surely they can all see the fridge is empty and could maybe do the shopping? By all accounts none of the adults are missing breakfast and are eating everything in sight, shrugging their shoulders and just assuming someone else will feed the kids.
“Alfie and Freddie seem to contribute either nothing or very little. Surely it’d be time to ship Freddie back home to Little Mo? And tell Alfie to find somewhere else to live if he’s bringing in so little?”
EastEnders usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on BBC One.
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