Can anyone be too poor to buy a toothbrush? Yes – I know, because that was me | Katriona O'Sullivan
LBC’s Nick Ferrari can’t see what is stopping people buying a cheap toothbrush, but the grinding reality of living in poverty creates its own prioritiesI don’t listen to Nick Ferrari on LBC very often. His antagonistic way of dealing with complex problems gets me screaming at the radio far too easily. Last month was a perfect example. Someone from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation was on discussing research showing that about 7 million people are , including toothpaste and toothbrushes, because of the cost of living crisis.This did not strike me as a controversial finding. The cost of fuel, heating, food, school, clothes – everything – has gone up, while wages and benefits have not risen enough to keep pace. Ferrari, however, latched on to the toothbrushes. I found myself listening to him talk about the price of cheap toothbrushes in pound shops and at Asda. At times, it sounded like a price-comparison advert. At other times, it sounded like lazy journalism: take a complicated issue, strip it of all context and turn it into something that will generate outrage, clicks and applause.Dr Katriona O’Sullivan is a psychologist, author and professor at Maynooth University. She is the author of the bestselling memoirs and , and is a weekly columnist for the Irish IndependentDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our section, please .
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