Child Poverty

Miss A I assume they expect all jobseekers to have a smartphone, tablet or access to the internet in a local library.

I also want to point out, now I'm on my soapbox, that the way the job centre keep track of how your job search is going, is by having your email address, so they can log in to your jobseeker account.
Its all very demeaning.

Is it also the case of really young girls falling pregnant, without the support of their family or the Father of their child/children. These girls could come from low income or poverty themselves, maybe some have had problems at school and have not got the education they should have.
What I am trying to say if somewhat clumsily that through no fault of their own they are ill equipped mentally, not well educated and have no household management skills to budget the money they receive, which is so sad the whole system has failed them.
I have not got the solution but fear that it is an ongoing circle of poverty and hardship.

I stand corrected MissA
Worse than I thought it was, then.

I was a single parent myself for many years and never received a single penny from my child’s father.
gillybob it's amazing what fairy tales some can fabricate to get out of paying towards their children's upbringing.

gillybob you have mentioned that little girl before and the case sounds heart-breaking - the fact that she is so neglected and that the parent refuses any hand-me-downs makes it sound as if that is not just a case of poverty. It sounds more like a case of neglect and, in fact, like child abuse. Surely the school should be asking for a case conference?

Like others I saw child poverty most days of my working life towards the end of my career. I saw men targeting single parents and creaming off their benefits, mothers with no money to buy food or clothes for their children. Children with no mattress or clean bedding to sleep on. Children going to school not only hungry, but with no underwear or inappropriately dressed for the seasons. Children with one set of pants who smelled and were targeted by other children at school.

Sadly I had friends, relatives and even some colleagues who thought I was exaggerating. And my background was health, not social work!

You are right Grandma70s that is why people can pretend that it doesn't exist.

There are school holidays as well. How do people manage then?

I was a widowed mother when my children were six and nine years old. I was one of the lucky ones financially, because my husband’s job had a pension scheme where he could choose good insurance payments for me and the children after his death. Prudently, he had done this. We were poorer than some, but basically comfortable enough.

What worries me now is that I know there is serious child poverty in this country, but I never see any evidence of it except on television. It’s odd, because I live in an area of the north west that is far from affluent. I would have to go deliberately to one of the poor areas of town to see evidence. Where I live, no extreme poverty is visible in the streets, the shops, on public transport or indeed anywhere. It is hidden in its own areas and doesn’t apparently venture out. If it weren’t for the media, I would not know it existed.

EllenVannin I think you will offend many on Gransnet by suggesting there is no pensioner poverty.

I think sometimes the lines cross between child poverty and child neglect ( or bad parenting.) To this day I remember the case of a boy sent to school in filthy clothes and given a packet of crisps for breakfast. He had no coat, even in December. His brothers and sisters fared the same. I investigated, with others, this case. His mother received enough in benefits to feed and clothe her family. It transpired she couldn't even be bothered to get off the sofa away from daytime tv to look in the charity shops, or even see to it there was food in the cupboard. Money, in the form of benefits really wasn't an issue.

When a child is sent out in deep snow in ankle socks and worn ballet pumps surely you have to question the nature of parenting?

It’s truly sickening MissA

The assumption that all schools have breakfast clubs really annoys me. I’m not blowing my trumpet here at all but there is no way my Son and DiL could both work if I didn’t do the childcare/sleepovers/ school runs that I do . The primary school children go to school miles away from home ( not by choice) and it does not have any breakfast or after school clubs .

Why do people think it’s acceptable to post complete fabricated rubbish aimed at stirring up the envy , hated and jealousy of vulnerable groups and then just disappear. I’ve said before how much I despise posters who post lies - and yes they are lies if you don’t bother to check your ‘facts’ before posting. And as I’ve said before re a racist post: I don’t care who you heard it from or how misled you’ve been - it’s disgraceful to do this. It’s not an innocent mistake that we should forgive - it’s trolling

Also, bearing in mind that to justify your 64 pounds a week job seekers allowance you have to be actively seeking work for 35 hours a week. Even if you are looking for a 20 hour a week job!
And they want proof that you've looked, that you've looked enough, and that you've considered every single job that you are able to do.

MissA you are correct they have to work between 16-20 hours to qualify for working tax credits.

They would be extremely unlikely to be working 15 hours a week.
16 hours is the 'golden number' in order to qualify for help.
15 hours would mean you would still be expected to sign on as a job seeker, to find a job with 1 hour more.

My DD is a single parent, she has had to come back to live at home. She was back at work after 6 weeks. There is no way she could live independently, the sums mentioned in the OP are “fairytales”

She is fortunate that we can support her especially with childcare.

as well as perhaps £500 from ex partners

If the statements are true, then they could be earning, say at 15 hours pw @ £7.83 ph about £117.45 pw (is that right) + £200 approximately from HM Gov. + perhaps £125 from the father of the children = £442.45 pw. Enough to pay rent, bills, feed and clothe children, travel to and from work etc?

Perhaps.
Perhaps not.

Can I also point out that single parents no longer stay at home.
They will be expected to look for work as soon as their child is 5 (I think) and the hours expected of them increase as their child gets older.
They are expected to make use of after school and breakfast clubs so that they can work.

I don't begrudge these poor beggars anything at all. It's got nothing to do with folk what they're given and whether on benefits. What are they expected to do ?

Years ago nearly everyone was in the same boat but now you have this insidious " them and us " mentality. The " haves and have nots " which has divided this country and its people.

I am appalled and indeed enraged by the opinions that some people hold about single parents. They seem to imagine that it is an easy life, lived in the lap of luxury at the taxpayers' expense. Being a single parent is jolly hard work.

I don't begrudge one penny of my taxes going to help single parents. Like others on here, I cannot understand the attitude that begrudges these families a bit of help.

I was lucky enough not to rely on benefits all the time when I was a single parent, but at times the I had some what was called "family tax credit", well now my children are taxpayers themselves, and they and I have repaid many times over the help that we received.

That is the pity of it, really.
The fact that it will undoubtedly impact on generations to come.

The United Nations has condemned the British government's "punitive, mean-spirited and often callous" treatment of the country's poorest and most vulnerable, in a damning report. I think as the 5th richest country in the world this is a national disgrace. In years to come the country will reap the rewards of child poverty. It seems that Victorian values equal punishing the poor.

I too pity young families EllanVannin as there are so many financial demands on them these days . Who should have to choose between keeping warm , eating and clothing their children properly ? Having a TV is a very small pleasure when you have kids and yet there are people who begrudge this to those on benefits. I can’t understand it.

UN has reported on the shocking level of poverty in UK. We are still one of the richest nations in the world. Truly shocking that any child and their family should be living in poverty.