Over the past year, a number of female journalists - including Polly Toynbee, Fran Abrams and Barbara Ehrenreich in the US - have gone undercover to write books about what it's like to be poor.
In the tradition of George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London, they've taken low-paid jobs, and written about their experience of trying to survive on the minimum wage. But can middle-class journalists really tell us what it's like to be poor - and why can't the poor speak for themselves? Journalist's Fran Abrams, who wrote about her time as a cleaner, care assistant and factory-worker on £4.10/hour and Judith Williamson join Martha to discuss. Below the Breadline: Living on the Minimum Wage by Fran Abrams, published by Profile Books; ISBN: 186197471X
