Anne Johnstone examines the plight of the growing band of Britain's

poor who have come to dread Christmas rather than look forward to it

''SANTA likes John better than me,'' announced three-year-old William

Stewart last year after hearing about something his friend had got in

his stocking. His mother bit her lip and tried to comfort her son: ''I

told him that Santa must have run out of those and maybe he'd get one

next year.''

He won't, of course, because with a disposable income of #56 a week,

Charlotte has trouble affording anything to put into William's stocking.

She can barely afford food, never mind Christmas presents.

Charlotte, a lone parent from the Raploch in Stirling, is one of

thousands for whom this Christmas will bring more misery than merriment.

They are the growing band of Britain's poor. Their plight is highlighted

this week in ''Missing out on a Merry Christmas'', a report from

National Children's Home.

Last January NCH asked around 350 low-income families attending the

charity's family centres in Scotland, England, and Wales about the

financial and emotional demands of Christmas. More than half were lone

parents, 70% were in debt and four-fifths of those on benefit had a net

weekly income of under #100. The national average is around more than

#300.

The report makes grim reading and the reality may be worse as many of

those questioned may have been too proud to admit that they couldn't

provide the ''standard Christmas''. Of course, this term is hard to

define but research at York University has shown that a couple with two

children living on a modest but adequate income spent around #500 on

presents, decorations, cards and outings alone. By contrast more than a

quarter of the NCH families spend less than #60 extra at Christmas,

including extra fuel, food and travel costs. Half spend less than #100.

Barely half of those questioned provided a special meal on Christmas

Day and nearly a third couldn't afford a Christmas cake. A quarter of

the children received their main present not from parents, but another

relative, a friend or a charity. Another quarter got clothes or shoes as

a main present. A common coping strategy among poor families is to

disguise necessities such as underwear as presents.

Many of the parents complained about the pressure to spend,

particularly from television advertising of children's toys, often aimed

at children too young to understand that their parents simply can't

afford them.

''The adverts aren't fair on families like ours. Everything William

sees, he wants,'' says Charlotte Stewart. Like half of those questioned

in the survey, she feels sad and guilty about not being able to give her

child what she thinks he should have.

Family visits were another problem area, with many opting to stay at

home because they couldn't afford travel costs or gifts. Some, like my

two interviewees, Charlotte and Marie, also discouraged people from

visiting them because they felt they had so little to offer them. So

Christmas for the poor is often a time of loneliness and isolation.

For many of the families, the only way they could cope with Christmas

was by getting into debt. This ranged from borrowing small sums from

friends and relatives to pawning their own possessions or borrowing from

a loan shark. The most common form of credit was the mail-order

catalogue. It's worth noting that Charlotte and Marie preferred to opt

for a loan shark with an exorbitant interest rate or a catalogue, with

far higher prices than the shops, rather than their local low-interest

credit union. Their reason was pride. Both said they wouldn't use a

credit union because it involved revealing their financial position to

others in their community.

A report this week from the National Association of Citizens Advice

Bureaux concludes that the cost of credit for the poor is too high.

''High credit costs, low benefit levels and lack of provision for paying

household bills on a low income are causing deprivation , poverty and a

cycle of debt,'' says NACAB. Last year nearly half of all CAB clients

with debt problems were trying to live on less than #100 a week.

They quote one case in which an unemployed client borrowed #250 at an

interest rate of 972%. Local Trading Standards officers advised that

action for extortionate credit under the 1974 Consumer Credit Act was

unlikely to succeed.

Poverty statistics are a notorious minefield but we can say that the

problems highlighted in both of these reports are now shared by a

sizable proportion of the British population. The Child Poverty Action

Group says 10 million adults and three million children live in poverty

or on the margins of poverty.

In Scotland the 1980s saw a particularly rapid rise in child poverty.

According to figures from the Scottish Child and Family Alliance 440,000

or 38% of Scottish children now live in poverty, a reflection of high

levels of unemployment and lower household incomes.

And, of course, poverty isn't spread evenly over the country but

concentrated in particular areas. Strathclyde Regional Council's latest

estimates, based on figures from the Department of Social Security, show

that about 27% of all under-15s in the region are in households

dependent on income support. An even larger number qualify for shoe and

clothing grants, indicating that many others come from families living

on low pay.

There are also very wide variations in income levels within regions.

Central region, for example, includes communities where nobody lives on

either income support or low pay and others, like the Raploch, where the

majority struggle to survive on basic benefits or badly paid work.

Mr Reg McKay, NCH's director of social work in Scotland, is concerned

that poverty has sunk down the political agenda. He believes there is a

tendency to see families in terms of particular problems, when their

main problem is that they simply don't have enough to live on.

''This Government isn't addressing poverty. It should be the number

one priority,'' he said.

''Low-income families who are already struggling to provide basic

necessities such as food, fuel, and clothes, are coming to dread

Christmas rather than look forward to it. It is clear from our work that

current benefit levels are no longer adequate to meet basic needs, let

alone pay for a proper Christmas.''

THE NIGHTMARE

Marie McCullough, 25, who has a family of three -- Stacie, 7, Chavone,

5, and Nicola, 3 -- is from Raploch, Stirling. Weekly income (income

support and child benefit) after deductions: #71.

LAST year I got two of them bikes out of a catalogue and took four

months paying it off. I can't shop any other way because I don't have

the cash. How do I pay it off? Instead of two bags of coal a week, I

just get one and we all cuddle up in one room.

This year I'm determined not to get into debt. Only the eldest is

getting a bike and I picked it up second-hand. The girls get necessities

like socks and slippers, dressed up as presents. You have to do that.

Then you make it up with cheap jigsaws and toys.

I've used the same tree for years and the girls make the decorations.

I've got a cake this year because I made one at my cookery class. I pay

#3 a week towards a hamper of frozen meat. That's the only way I can

afford a Christmas dinner. Up the town you see everyone else spending

money and you look at their children in their nice new clothes and it

makes you feel bad. Christmas is a nightmare. I wish they'd do away with

it. Birthdays and Easter are enough.

WE'RE THE LUCKY ONES Charlotte Stewart, 39, who has a three-year-old

son, William, is from Raploch, Stirling. Weekly income (income support

and child benefit) after deductions: #56.65.

CHRISTMAS gets me down. I always get low at this time of year. I tried

to save #2 a week for presents but after a couple of weeks I always had

to dip into it to get the dinner.

Last year I borrowed #100 from a loan shark to cover his main present,

which was a police car, and a few extras. It's 45% interest if you pay

it off in 24 weeks. Otherwise it's more. I finished paying for last

Christmas at the end of October. Last week I got another #100.

When you see everyone up the town spending money, it makes you feel

like a rotten mother. I've bought a few cheap books and things and this

year I've got him a second-hand bike off someone in my family. My tree

and decorations are hand-me-downs from a sister. Another sister has

invited me round for my meal on Christmas Day. There's quite a few round

about who won't have a Christmas dinner. I feel sorry for those who

don't have relatives to help. Really we're the lucky ones.

Visits are a problem. Sometimes I sit behind a locked door. You don't

want to let anyone in because you haven't anything to offer them.

After Christmas all you're left with is debt and a bin full of broken

toys.