Four wealthy southern women experience 10 days of living on the breadline in the north of England. They begin by moving into a former council house in Walker, Newcastle, where unemployment is almost three times the national average and more than 50 per cent of local children are classed as living in poverty. They immerse themselves in an unfamiliar world and hand over their credit cards to survive on the equivalent of job-seeker's allowance, but find the process harder than expected.