She still can't quite believe what she's had to do to get through this winter.

She's sold her house, where she'd lived for 40 years, and moved in with her daughter and grandchildren to ensure they can survive the cost of living crisis together.

It was the only way they could see of making things work.

Childcare costs coupled with rising energy and grocery bills meant something had to give.

That something was Jo's home.

"It was a no choice decision, it killed me that I had to sell my home after 40 years….it is either that or you watch your family go under and I'm not that type of person," she tells Sky News.

Now she has to walk past her old house every day - because she has only moved 50 yards to the other side of the same street in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.

A small move that felt like a huge leap just when she was expecting to be ending her career and enjoying life a bit more.

Currently, Jo works nights at a logistics firm and during the day does childcare for her grandchildren Frank, who is at nursery and 18-month-old Felicity.

Their Mum, Jo's daughter, Fiona is a manager at the same logistics firm.

"Even with such a great job, a great career, it is still not enough," Fiona told us.

"After having Felicity, the reality hit (me) that to work full time to be able to provide for my family, the cost was £2,000 a month, which is the whole of my wages.

"So I was met with a real financial crisis."

She has overcome it through hard work, perseverance and the support and love of those around her - particularly her mum.

"I don't know how optimistic I am in terms of any change, I am just hopeful," Fiona said.

"If you haven't got hope it is just despair and then it is a never-ending vortex of mental health issues, depression and anxiety and then it kind of makes you question, what is the point?"

The local NHS health visiting team that supported Fiona with her son and then her daughter has seen a significant surge in the numbers of families falling into similar situations.

Fiona's health visitor, Gareth Hatton, now sees more and more families struggling to stay afloat financially - as the cost of living crisis has become just part of people's lives.

"The cost of paying for the pandemic, the cost of the war in Ukraine, the cost of inflation, it's in everybody," Gareth said.

"From those that have always been deprived to those that have actually never been in any sort of financial struggles, (they're) struggling in a way that's immoral."

He has lost count of the cold homes he has visited this winter, the number of people who are skipping meals to ensure their children are fed properly - it's his job to help tackle the associated health problems for both infants and sometimes their parents too.

Generation of lost children

He also believes it is further limiting the opportunities that less privileged children have in life.

"At some point there's going to be a generation of children that we'll lose because of the cost of living," he told us.

"Something's got to change. Something's got to change soon."

Whether next week's spring budget will be that moment of change for families is debatable.

There are multiple layers of problems that people across the generations are facing on childcare, energy and rising day to day living costs - but Jo isn't optimistic that politicians realise what's really happening.

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"I think they live in a different cuckoo land altogether, talking to ordinary everyday people - no they haven't got a clue."

With a steely look she then finishes our chat by making a point that people up and down the UK will identify with.

"We'll work hard. Right.

"And we'll do everything. But the time it gets to where you work, work, work and you still have no money?

"That's when the population will start turning."

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