In this dramatised study of the general effect of poverty on family life, a couple and their seven children in a backwoods logging community are studied in the pride of a man used to the unfettered outdoor life and the wistful hope of the vulnerable young for something more.

"We've managed all right so far," he asserts to the social worker who presses him to take relief. His wife agrees, and opposes him only when her brood is threatened. But threats can come from unforeseen quarters.