Child poverty would reach a record high in 2023-24 under the Tories

The interesting thing is that he really didn't think he was. I think it comes from the mix up the gutter press makes over earnings and wealth. You could be wealthy with very little earning and equally in the top 5% with very little wealth.

Equally earnings at the top can feel very different in different parts of the country. However, if that plank wanted me to feel sorry for him because a) he lives in an expensive part of the country where most of the better-paid jobs are or b) because he may have great income but little wealth I am not going to rush to his defence as he obviously has little empathy for the 95% who earn less than he does.

Good summary Gracesgran.

The "plank" actually lived in a very cheap part of the country - sorry, I can't remember where.

I do not for a minute believe that the rich are evil, but the fact is that wealth gives enormous power to the wealthy.

This includes political power. Although under a so-called democracy, the rich are nor supposed to be able to buy power, we all know they can.

How much money did Aaron Banks spend on promoting the leave campaign before the fraudulent referendum of 2016 and where did these £millions come from?

Why has the report of Russian interference in our democracy been suppressed?

I agree with most of the comments. It's not all down to government. Where are the fathers? I watched a news report tonight on poor families shopping at a community shop. Trolleys full of biscuits, cake, chocolates whilst cheaper wholesome food left untouched. As someone said, children in poverty but an up to date (better than mine) TV in the room. And mobile phones. Sometimes parents do not appear to have a sense of priorities. And some have a sense of entitlement. Problem families will always be with us and I not sure what policies will or will not work. Who was it in 19th century said the poor will always be with us. You would think in 21st century things would be better bit sadly no.
You can raise benefits, improve housing but until there is some education of families nothing will change

I am sure you are right Tooting families like that do exist, but why do you think they are publicised by the media?

Because it suits the agenda of the right wing proprietors of the Daily Mail, Express, Sun and Telegraph and the Brexit Broadcasting Corporation.

My guess is that there are ten or twenty or more genuinely poor families for everyone of the fast food, big tv families you hear about.

"but until there is some education of families nothing will change"

Good idea! Let's invest in one-stop hubs and call them something like SureStart!

There will always be people who are poorer but we are now at a point where they are growing in number and in the desperate situations they are in.

10 years of Tory chaos and this is what we get.

Well there seem to be a couple of hardcore posters who don’t agree with giving help and are quite happy to let the situation continue and degenerate.
Using such vulgar phrases as ‘wind your neck in’ is all they can say when criticised for their lack of Christian values regarding the poor and unfortunate.
I’m only glad that there are many more who feel sympathy, especially for the children caught up in this situation.

Maybe they could be bought a copy of "A Christmas Carol".

"Every child matters" unless you're a Conservative Brexiteer.

I know many think that you just need self determination to haul yourself out of poverty, and it's easy to be judgemental about the way some poor people make bad decisions for themselves and their children. Sadly it's not so simple, and causes of poverty are multifaceted.

I am interested in neuroscience and there is research to show that for example, poverty damages children's brains. To quote, irregular brain development in low income children has been documented. This in brief, affects ability in reading and maths and memory and is linked to the stresses experienced by these children.

This can affect their life chances as they grow up, and has often affected their parents before them.

If you want to see this interesting research in full it is available on bps.org.uk. This isn't a political site but is the British Psychological Society.

Great post, Greeneyedgirl! Scientific empirical evidence.

International Organisation, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, has said 'Government Policy Failings Exacerbate Food Poverty, Violate Right to Food'

(London) – Government cuts to welfare over the past decade have resulted in tens of thousands of poor families in England left without enough food to eat, a clear breach of the government’s duty to ensure adequate food, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 115-page report, “Nothing Left in the Cupboards: Austerity, Welfare Cuts, and the Right to Food in the UK,” examines how deep, austerity-motivated cuts to the welfare system, exacerbated by the introduction of the Universal Credit system and other changes, have left many families with children in England going hungry and dependent on food aid from charities. Many of these families are single parent households led by women. Human Rights Watch found that the UK government is failing to meet its duty under human rights law to ensure the right to adequate food.

“The way the UK government has handled its reduction in welfare spending has left parents unable to feed their children in the fifth-largest economy in the world,” said Kartik Raj, Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The UK government should ensure everyone’s right to food rather than expecting charities to step in and fill the gap.”

www.hrw.org/news/2019/05/20/uk-welfare-cuts-mean-families-go-hungry

It is desperate really, as I see nothing in the Tory manifesto that begins to address the problem caused by their austerity cuts.

In 1997 poverty was rising year on year but by the end of the Labour tenure in office poverty of all kinds including pensioner poverty was dropping year on year and had dropped 10% points in the years between 1997 and 2007.

Am amazing achievement and done entirely by funding tax credits and benefits. Work has a small but detectable effect as well.

You’ll mean me ybnb Using such vulgar phrases as ‘wind your neck in’ is all they can say when criticised for their lack of Christian values regarding the poor and unfortunate

That was in response to your attack on me (first) asking if I ever so much donated a tin of good to the poor.

I told you that you don’t know the first thing about me or any charitable donations I make through my bank.

So yes, I told you to ‘wind your neck in’.

You were rude.

By the way I’m not a Christian but a humanist.

Greetings Urmstongran from one humanist to another

I’m not a Christian either Ug but really why get all defensive when asked a simple question? Just answer you don’t have to default to vulgarity mode.

Simples!

I feel the same when some posters spout nonsense about single mothers and those terrible parents who send their children to nurseries as babies, which affects me directly. I'm tempted to come out with some very choice language in response, but (usually) I manage to walk away.

One wonders how the cycle of chaotic family like can be broken and why it goes from generation to generation regardless of the government of colour. It's a complex matter.

We always get the smug types who say I lived in a council house and just worked hard, now I’ve got three homes and loadsamoney so why can’t they - in other words, the feckless poor/ homeless are lazy and spend their money on fags and booze so it’s all their own fault and are “undeserving”. I wonder why homelessness and rough sleeping has risen hugely under the Tories as well?

crystaltips rough sleeping and homelessness is multifaceted.

The reasons people leave or lose their home cannot be put in one box, ticked off and blame put on the government of the day.

I am not sure any government has the answer, but providing homeless shelters where help can be provided is a step in the right direction. Lots of these are run by charities, which probably means as long as they continue to receive donations they are not tied to "party politics" and therefore cannot be used as political footballs.

Ah yes, those who did escape their relatively impoverished backgrounds and did well crystaltipps- what would you have them do. Remain there and claim benefits, when they were perfectly able to take care of themselves and their families? That would leave even less monies available for those unable, for whatever reasons, to do so.

And for the record you can do well in life without being smug, you can give back in all sorts of ways. I think having come from that background myself it makes me more sympathetic and proactive in doing something about it without the waffle and virtue signalling that goes on these days.

Don’t damn people who have ‘stuff’ as uncaring. In my experience it’s rarely true.

crystaltips rough sleeping and homelessness is multifaceted

It may well be, GG13, but the fact remains that it has risen under the tories. One of the 'facets' is very clearly the tories

We all know what we can do about them, don't we?

You know full well I did answer at the time ybnb so stop digging.