Child poverty is overwhelming teachers & GPs!

It's disgusting that our country leaves children to go hungry. How on earth can benefits be cut? We all know there have been massive price rises and these cause more distress to the poorest. How anyone could justify voting for this I don't know.

Perhaps the parents relying on benefits might work?

Many parents who are on benefit do actually work, but wages have not kept pace with cost of living.

Germanshepherdsmum

Perhaps the parents relying on benefits might work?

It isn’t as simple as that GSM. Younger son used to work as a Work Coach, and some of the stories he told me were heart-rending.

The Scottish government tries to mitigate the effect of Tory cuts.they have been praised by the Rowntree foundation for their child payment policy which has done a lot to lift children out of poverty...obviously we need to do more but on a fixed income from WM its difficult to sort everything.The payment is £25 a week for children up to 16 I believe for children whose parents are currently getting some benefits.There are other things which help with the cost of living such as free to use bus travel for young people up to age 22 which I've seen criticised on here but my GS,21 works for minimum wage and is studying and he's saving almost 300 pounds a month on fares.Its a lifesaver .
It also keeps busses busy and old bangers off the road

Ladyleftfieldlover
Germanshepherdsmum

*Perhaps the parents relying on benefits might work?
It isn’t as simple as that GSM. Younger son used to work as a Work Coach, and some of the stories he told me were heart-rending.*

I’ve said so many times before, I worked for DWP from 2009-2022, several years I was front facing, for part of this time I was a Work Coach.

There are many many reasons why people end up in poverty, it’s not just lazy parents relying solely on welfare.

Their backstories aren’t just heartbreaking, sometimes they are utterly shocking.

It’s the minority who are out of work long term and “playing the system”.

It’s got so much worse since 2010. This government pledged to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and for five years I worked on a project in this remit, alongside the local authorities, only to have the rug pulled from under us all when funding was cut!

Obviously I cannot go into any details but just to give you a slight flavour I worked with families affected by severe domestic violence, murder, serious drug use, armed robbery, loss of children, ex prisoners, care leavers, etc etc etc. it’s so so sad and these families urgently need the support at all levels of the services which disappeared or which have been cut to the barest bone.

This govt should be hanging their heads in shame.

Germanshepherdsmum

Perhaps the parents relying on benefits might work?

So very simple.

It is more nuanced than that. Not all those in poverty are work-shy. Most are sick, disabled, mentally unwell, carers, waiting for NHS treatment.

I think the majority of people on benefits are working.

Perhaps look at why they need to top up their wages, the rental charges, etc.

Some govt statistics for the last 12 months

“There were 6.7 million people on Universal Credit in April 2024
77.5% of people on Universal Credit in April 2024 were from the white ethnic group.

All other high-level ethnic groups combined totalled 22.5% of Universal Credit claimants in April 2024.

The proportion of people in the ‘no work requirements’ conditionality regime (37%) continues to increase

There were, on average, 57,000 claims and 48,000 starts per week in April 2024
Universal Credit households with children accounted for half of all households with a payment in February 2024

There were 176,000 households receiving the Universal Credit childcare element in February 2024

38% of claimants are in work.”

So 38% of claimants are already working, a further 37% are deemed unfit to work, which leaves approx 25% of all UC claimants seeking work.

Of these 25% there’s probably 5% “fleecing the system” too lazy to work!

It’s never as easy as blithely stating “perhaps these parents can work”.

How awful it must be to be devoid of compassion.

Thank you Cossy👏👏👏

fathers need to step up to the plate and provide for their children. I knew real poverty as a child but we always ate because my dad worked all hours to provide for us and my mother knew how to make very cheap meals. My parents knew how to parent and never relied on the state

There will be some real and sad hardship cases but to say 48% of pupils is misleading.
It’s vague to say ‘ had experienced hardship at some point in the last school year’. This could mean anything, from not being able to go on a school trip to using the second hand uniform shop.
I won’t be voting for the Tories in any case but Labour won’t be channeling huge amounts into benefits either and is keeping the two child cap.
Sadly I think teachers have always acted as social workers, they knew the problem families.

zakouma66

How awful it must be to be devoid of compassion.

How wonderful it must be to feel saintlike.😇

Perhaps your father was paid a living wage karmalady My son is limited in what he can do because of problems with his SEN son. He cannot claim UC because he lives with me, and apparently it's fine for me to help him out with my pension.

Oreo

zakouma66

How awful it must be to be devoid of compassion.

How wonderful it must be to feel saintlike.😇

Absolutely not and no need at all for the snide comment.
No need at all.

I do my bit. I try.
So sad, that this country has come to this.
To suggest that people should get a job is just cruel. Its much more complicated than that.
A series of misfortunes can happen to anybody.

So, let me get this right, your own comment wasn’t what you term snide? I think it was.
Some people do need to get a job, since Covid there seems to have been a reluctance to get back to the world of work and is widely reported.
That doesn’t mean everybody as there are some who really do have physical or MH issues.Unfortunately it’s become a ‘thing’ to claim MH issues now and hard to prove when it really isn’t!
Useless parenting is what sends kids to school hungry most of the time.

I saw a chap on tv who said he had 10 children aged from 14 to 2. Why? Just why?

Oreo

So, let me get this right, your own comment wasn’t what you term snide? I think it was.
Some people do need to get a job, since Covid there seems to have been a reluctance to get back to the world of work and is widely reported.
That doesn’t mean everybody as there are some who really do have physical or MH issues.Unfortunately it’s become a ‘thing’ to claim MH issues now and hard to prove when it really isn’t!
Useless parenting is what sends kids to school hungry most of the time.

👏👏👏

Oreo

There will be some real and sad hardship cases but to say 48% of pupils is misleading.
It’s vague to say ‘ had experienced hardship at some point in the last school year’. This could mean anything, from not being able to go on a school trip to using the second hand uniform shop.
I won’t be voting for the Tories in any case but Labour won’t be channeling huge amounts into benefits either and is keeping the two child cap.
Sadly I think teachers have always acted as social workers, they knew the problem families.

Point on raising benefits taken Oreo, any change will be small, but I like their policies for childcare and early education a lot, plus child health.

The Guardian Article in the O/P outlines additional areas of hardship tho it doesnt break down the "48% "

www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/17/teachers-gps-staggering-extra-demands-poverty-great-britain

However - if the Conservatives are going to finance their 17% tax savings make no mistake where the burdens are going to fall.

karmalady

fathers need to step up to the plate and provide for their children. I knew real poverty as a child but we always ate because my dad worked all hours to provide for us and my mother knew how to make very cheap meals. My parents knew how to parent and never relied on the state

Too many absent fathers. I could say more but it would be deleted.

Catholic? Can’t keep it in his pants? Feckless by nature? All three?

I don't believe in child poverty. It should be called Parent Poverty. Children can't decide on their careers and pay. Parents (mothers) can rise above poverty if they are allowed to get the proper education or training. The root cause is much deeper than child poverty. It involves very low-paying jobs, increasing rents, stressful survival, lack of education, daughters not using birth control, sons who assist in producing babies and walk away, poor government leadership, mental illness, lack of hope, lack of direction and also the ultra wealthy encouraging poor people to blame other poor people for societal issues. GPs and teachers can't stop the occurrence. If the government just provides food supplies, housing and childcare, they are only patching holes in a sinking raft. It will take the whole population to fix this cycle, not just the ones affected by these tragedies, and the first ingredient in this collective stew pot is empathy.

Germanshepherdsmum

I saw a chap on tv who said he had 10 children aged from 14 to 2. Why? Just why?

Unless he’s working and funding them I’d say that is completely irresponsible, however it’s not the children’s fault and why should they suffer?

Also, whilst I’ll be the first one to say it is the parents role not the state to raise and fund and support a child, what happens when they cannot or will not?

It’s never the child’s fault.