Too many British families are hungry!

Please understand with the whole smartphone, TV etc., many “poorer” people sadly resort to money lenders, payday loans, catalogues etc to purchase these things because they have children and don’t want them to miss out. However I’ve been in some homes where there is a very old TV, older phone (which DWP insist you have if looking for work), and just the most awful living conditions. I’ve been in homes where domestic violence survivors have been rehoused but the council no longer provide carpets and curtains and furniture has to be begged or borrowed. Honestly I’ve seen things and heard life stories which are completely horrific and having worked in London in financial services before moving to the public sector and it truly opened my eyes. This, combined with my daughters tales of her pupils in a very deprived primary school has made me open my eyes to entire section of our society I didn’t really understand existed and certainly not in the numbers we currently have!

Oh dear. I believe the 'poor' as some want to call them, are far better at managing their meagre amounts of money than many billionnairres (not that I know any) who don't seem to understand basic accountingand taxation systems.

Also I hear billionnairres can also afford expensive watches, jewellery, works of art, space ships and private islands, even whole countries in some parts of the world.

Good with money?- juggling a couple of kids, rent and food and clothes on minimum wage- now that's money maangement!

You all have forgotten scratch cards

Delia22

Maybe it,s irrelevant but how many of the "poor,disadvantaged" families each have I phones,possibly on contracts? Also some who purchase vapes. Sometimes it may be down to education.I don't mean general education but I believe frozen fruit and vegetables are relatively cheap.Doesn,t take much to make a healthy soup.However on the other hand I know there are many families where there are two adults working who struggle to buy essential basic nourishing food. There doesn't seem to be an easy answer and yes there has always been poverty.

Ah .... back to the deserving and undeserving poor of Victorian times.

Cossy

Both my children work with vulnerable young people in different jobs. The things they tell me are shocking. It shouldn't be happening in 2024.

And you're right, NOBODY needs to be a billionaire. How boring.

MissAdventure

Those after school and breakfast clubs can cost a fair old bit, too.

Yes.
They propose doubling the price of breakfast club here to £2.
Lunches are £2.50 each
Two children @ £4.50 per day is a big hole in a family food budget.

School lunches should be free for all children in state schools.

But due to school budgets being cut, lessons like cooking are no longer taught every week and if it is taught, it's combined with other subjects on a rolling rota.

If it is taught, children have to take their own ingredients or pay for school ones (though, knowing many teachers, I suspect that the teacher wold pay for those in desperate need)

MissAdventure

May as well get it all out the way.
Latest iPhones, broadband, fake nails..

You forgot the multiple tattoos... 🫣

No, this isn’t a country of which I am particularly proud! No, it isn’t the fault of any billionaires, however, imo it leaves a bad smell that some have so much money they’ll never spend in in many lifetimes and others are in food poverty.

Some, pretty sure not all, of those billionaires probably employ people, which is a good thing, some may donate to food banks, which is good, many probably have their wealth stashed away in offshore accounts, which isn’t good!

No one NEEDS to be a billionaire!

I blame the current govt, who pledged to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and who in fact are partially responsible for the huge increase.

I worked for five years, between 2013 and 2017 as outreach in people’s homes, with our most vulnerable people, care leavers, victims of domestic violence, homeless, asylum seekers and addicts, what I witnessed and the homes I visited truly shocked me, working alongside family and social workers and other agencies, to help these people to make positive changes in their lives. The odds were heavily stacked against them and I never took my own family and home for granted again.

I’m proud of the work I did, and I’ll never forget the conditions some these adults and children lived in, utterly shocking in this wealthy country of ours!

Those after school and breakfast clubs can cost a fair old bit, too.

Primrose53

I don’t believe it. There are breakfast clubs, after school clubs, food banks, community fridges. Supermarkets doing great deals on fruit and veg. Some cafes giving free kids meals if parents have a meal. Free school meals for ALL young kids. None of which were available when I was a kid.

I saw no evidence during half term that people are hungry. Everywhere I went families were out eating fish and chips, McDonalds, KFC, burgers on market stalls etc.

Some people don’t know how to budget and choose to spend their money on things other than food so they come to rely on handouts and it becomes the norm.

Where to start .....?

Morrisons - Probably one of the cheaper options & somewhere which offers meal deals and "kids eat free" deals.
One adult meal - One free kids meal. Single parent with three children will pay for one adult meal (over £4.50) and two children's meals. Kids meal deals £3.50. Total cost £11.50.
This all depends, of course, if there is even an ACCESSIBLE Morrisons nearby. Is it walkable? If not, do they drive or would they have to get the bus? Is there even a bus service near them? How much is the bus?

After school clubs, breakfast clubs, foodbanks and community food banks are NOT the norm. They have become a necessity and normality because this government has put itself before its most vulnerable members of society and has ALLOWED people to set these things up so they don't have to deal with it.

You are no doubt correct that some people are unable to budget. It is something which should be taught in schools. But due to school budgets being cut, lessons like cooking are no longer taught every week and if it is taught, it's combined with other subjects on a rolling rota.
Frozen fruit and veg. People need a freezer to store it. The cost of energy has shot through the roof. People can't afford to heat their homes or switch on their ovens. Single families will, statistically, live in smaller homes. They have less space for luxuries such as large freezers. Or have the funds to switch them on.

I'm literally done here..... If you can't see that child poverty is an appalling state of affairs in this nation, in 2024, then I have no words. It is NOT children's fault. And for the most part, it's not the parents fault either.

Yes, the flat above me was owned by a couple from london who let it out to some bad 'uns.
It was something like 1300 a month at one point!

A large amount of "benefits" goes to private landlords

A lot of people are just about getting by, with top up benefits to their wages, because they are privately renting places.
So, in effect, the money goes to people who own properties, and may, or may not need it.

Well, they can't know what's happening if you don't keep them up to speed.
It's probably a loophole that might be abused, maybe?

MissAdventure

And I got a £50 fine, as well, for not going online and informing "them".

That is so bluddy unfair!
How stupid are they??? 🤬

And I got a £50 fine, as well, for not going online and informing "them".

I was offered referral to a food bank when I had been ill for a while, and everything has gone to pot.
Luckily, I felt too ill to eat and had to rely on others to look after my grandson.
I would have arrived in a cab, because I was at deaths door and couldnt stand for long.

Baggs

Thanks seawoozle. Does the link to that site mean that the definition of food insecurity is "needing to use a food bank"?

Fundamentally, it's a report based on lived experiences of people in food insecurity/food poverty, the causes, those most likely affected by it etc and the fact that, as a result, many of them do need to use a Foodbank. It also sets out considerations for change to policies in government, wages and how benefits are paid.

Hope that helps.

It all comes down to not judging others as nobody knows what goes on in their lives.

MissAdventure

When I go out, I see no evidence of depressed people, people caught up in domestic violence, people who have terminal illnesses.
Yet I know there are droves of them.

When I go out I probably see a few millionaires (not sure about billionaires!) but I wouldn't know who they are either.

Nobody knew last time this conversation came up, either.

Incidentally, though.
School dinners - paid for on an app called parent pay.
Communication with the school - an app called edulink.
Job centre - an online journal to check every day to ensure your coach hasn't messaged you.
Any change on circumstances, just upload the relevant details.
School uniform shop - choose and order online, and they email when the items are in the shop.
Taxi - "why not use our online app next time? For now, press 1 if you want to book a cab"
Homework - use an app called sparx to check on your child's progress.
Open evening- book tickets online.

MissAdventure

May as well get it all out the way.
Latest iPhones, broadband, fake nails..

We need a Gnet bingo card, MissAdventure.

'Lifestyle choice', 'flat screen TV', 'designer trainers'....

MissAdventure

May as well get it all out the way.
Latest iPhones, broadband, fake nails..

Best post so far today!

Nor me.