Teachers and GPs are ‘staggering’ under extra demands caused by poverty in Great Britain
This is the headline of today’s Guardian which published a Joseph Rowntree Foundation report stating teachers and GPs in England, Scotland and Wales are informally acting as emergency food providers, welfare advisers, housing officers and social workers alongside their day jobs, as they devote more and more time and resources to support struggling parents and children.
- Primary school staff estimated 48% of their pupils, and primary care staff 57% of their patients, had experienced hardship at some point since the start of the school year or over the past 12 months.
- A third of schools, and nearly half of GP surgeries, had set up food banks to provide emergency food supplies to hungry pupils and families. Staff in schools in deprived areas estimated 44% of pupils had come to school hungry over the past year.
The article also highlights that the Tory manifesto plans to cut £12 bn from benefit spending which many of the families of these children rely on.
Many people will vote for the Tories on July 4th - seeking to achieve what? Yet more child poverty?
Germanshepherdsmum
Perhaps the parents relying on benefits might work?
The majority of them do ... slashing the benefits of the most vulnerable, and I include myself in that bracket, will ensure that the DWP will have even more blood on it's hands. Tory Ministers lying to the general public deliberately in the hope of eliciting more votes doesn't help, just stirs up more division. Not being able to afford to heat my house in the winter or pay to repair a basic necessity such as an accessible toilet has put me in that bracket, and quite frankly, it's demeaning and inhumane.
There by the Grace of God and all that ....
But you don’t give the full picture, as I have said before.
Wyllow3
It feels like going back to Victorian times valdali- the "undeserving poor" as lesser human beings.
Yes indeed, that's me, the undeserving poor!
Nothing to do with a mis-diagnosis (but nobody meant me any harm) followed by 24 lots of surgery, 25 different medical conditions stacking up as a result leaving me both physically and mentally disabled. Being unable to do the job I trained for and loved, in my mid 30's has left me socially anxious; lockdown for 18 months didn't help that either. I'm rattling around in a house too big and unsuitable for me, but can't sell it as it wouldn't give me enough to purchase another property, neither am I 'allowed' to earn from it, or if I do then the amount the state will let me keep, wouldn't even cover the Council Tax or the heating I'd have to put on if someone else lived here.
Today I have sat through the Coroner's Inquest about the death of my daughter. She had been with the MH service for 20 years, she wasn't even diagnosed for 16 of those years but even when she was, with a serious MH condition she NEVER got any help until she got upgraded to a 'level 6 nurse', 6 weeks before she died - but that Level 6 help hadn't kicked in. How many times do you have to try to take your own life before someone sits up and takes notice? The time before that she tried, in January 2022, she was found and taken to hospital, was treated for her overdose and then had t wait for hours before a MH Practitioner came to 'have a chat', That practitioner then discharged her into the night, alone and vulnerable - she didn't even know which town she was in! Even after that, nothing happened for a further 9 months - all her lovely GP could do was to give her his time and keep re-referring her.
MY MH has suffered, but my G isn't allowed to refer me for help until he has given me more medication (that makes 29 every night) and I have contacted MIND. I did that and every session costs £30. Had I got that sort of money spare, I would have got help years ago, so I'm another one that has been thrown on the scrap heap, but the Tories don't care one jot, and I think Labour will be following the Tory plans to slash the benefits - they want us dead, pensions and benefits are far too costly, and that is exactly what IS going to happen. The Tories have no fears, they have the money to be able to buy what they need and will do that should the need arise ...
Dear Made in Yorkshire, so sorry for this unjust situation.
I'm sorry but I can't undertand the insistence that you contact Mind and pay?
(MIND website shows counselling costs £30 or £60 a session in areas where its offered)
That's awful. Not much available in the way of support.
Have read most of the comments and it’s a sad situation.
Primrose53
Good post nanna8 👏👏
I went to primary school with kids who wore glasses taped up with plasters, with dirty necks, ears and teeth, with shoes that didn’t fit, with clothes too small and several who didn’t own a coat. We don’t see poverty like that anymore thank goodness.
Back then there were no charities to help people.
I agree completely with you when you say “why are they deliberately letting more and more disadvantaged people enter the country and paying for their food and shelter.”
We MUST stop this, sort out our own problems, make sure kids are fed, clothed and cared for and only then help others. If it takes years so be it.
The idea that there is any connection between the numbers of immigrants and poverty is completely false. Immigrant families often become successful and lift themselves out of poverty, they are aspirational.
As for the poverty you imagine we don't see, there is equivalent and sometimes worse in some areas. There is also a significant number of families who are in working poverty. Where the parents are low paid and cannot afford the huge rents and the high costs of fuel. There used to be reasonably priced council housing.
The OP talks about teachers being overwhelmed, so of course accommodating additional immigrant children, who don't speak English, will give extra work and cause additional stress. It may not be the main cause of disruption in the classroom, but it must be a huge problem.
Primrose,you obviously missed my post about headteachers in this country asking Sal's shoes for shoes for their pupils.It's on page one or two.
Joseann
The OP talks about teachers being overwhelmed, so of course accommodating additional immigrant children, who don't speak English, will give extra work and cause additional stress. It may not be the main cause of disruption in the classroom, but it must be a huge problem.
But this thread is about the extra demands placed on teachers by their pupils' poverty, Joseann, not by immigrant children.
Poverty exists everywhere, even in places with very low immigrant populations.
I know * Mazie*, but I assumed the op was something about teachers staggering under the extra demands on their own workloads.
No worries.
Joseann
I know * Mazie*, but I assumed the op was something about teachers staggering under the extra demands on their own workloads.
No worries.
The OP clearly states that this is about poverty in today's schools. I went to school with some poor children but it was on a council estate. The families were adequately housed and had free school milk and a free school dinner every day-even in. the school holidays. Thatcher snatched the milk (on the grounds that children were well fed and didn't need it) and then flogged off the housing. So today we have families relying on foodbanks, and schools asking for second hand shoes. The welfare state was supposed to care for its people and remove the need for charity. "From the cradle to the grave."
Glorianny
Primrose53
Good post nanna8 👏👏
I went to primary school with kids who wore glasses taped up with plasters, with dirty necks, ears and teeth, with shoes that didn’t fit, with clothes too small and several who didn’t own a coat. We don’t see poverty like that anymore thank goodness.
Back then there were no charities to help people.
I agree completely with you when you say “why are they deliberately letting more and more disadvantaged people enter the country and paying for their food and shelter.”
We MUST stop this, sort out our own problems, make sure kids are fed, clothed and cared for and only then help others. If it takes years so be it.The idea that there is any connection between the numbers of immigrants and poverty is completely false. Immigrant families often become successful and lift themselves out of poverty, they are aspirational.
As for the poverty you imagine we don't see, there is equivalent and sometimes worse in some areas. There is also a significant number of families who are in working poverty. Where the parents are low paid and cannot afford the huge rents and the high costs of fuel. There used to be reasonably priced council housing.
The idea is completely false ……. In YOUR opinion. 😉
Thousands would disagree with you.
If you invited strangers for Sunday lunch via FB say, expecting maybe 12 people to turn up and 120 turned up you wouldn’t be able to seat them or feed them would you?
So your point Primrose is without the extra people turning up at Sunday Lunch, everybody would be tucking into their roast beef?
Sadly its not quite that simple .
What if your Sunday guests were Ukrainian? Presumably then , you'd find some extra somewhere?
Primrose53
Glorianny
Primrose53
Good post nanna8 👏👏
I went to primary school with kids who wore glasses taped up with plasters, with dirty necks, ears and teeth, with shoes that didn’t fit, with clothes too small and several who didn’t own a coat. We don’t see poverty like that anymore thank goodness.
Back then there were no charities to help people.
I agree completely with you when you say “why are they deliberately letting more and more disadvantaged people enter the country and paying for their food and shelter.”
We MUST stop this, sort out our own problems, make sure kids are fed, clothed and cared for and only then help others. If it takes years so be it.The idea that there is any connection between the numbers of immigrants and poverty is completely false. Immigrant families often become successful and lift themselves out of poverty, they are aspirational.
As for the poverty you imagine we don't see, there is equivalent and sometimes worse in some areas. There is also a significant number of families who are in working poverty. Where the parents are low paid and cannot afford the huge rents and the high costs of fuel. There used to be reasonably priced council housing.The idea is completely false ……. In YOUR opinion. 😉
Thousands would disagree with you.
If you invited strangers for Sunday lunch via FB say, expecting maybe 12 people to turn up and 120 turned up you wouldn’t be able to seat them or feed them would you?
But no one is inviting anyone for a free lunch Primrose53.
The 120 people you describe bring with them skills, a willingness to work and to improve their lives.
So if they arrived with gifts of food, offers to help with the preparation, and a willingness to join in I'm sure we could spread rugs and cushions on the floor and find space even in my small flat for everyone. They might even have people who can play music, sing or tell stories and lunch would become celebratory.
www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jun/19/uk-children-shorter-fatter-and-sicker-amid-poor-diet-and-poverty-report-finds
More made up leftie woke nonsense.
too many mohers get nails done hair dyed pink BEFORE buying food. When they do buy food it is junk (the plea i cannot afford fruit and veg is rubbish. They need to learn to cook and stop ordering deliveroo etc
Macadia
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.
100% all this.
Exactly..there is contraception and abstinence available..!
That was with freedom of movement within the EU and the civil war in Yugoslavia when Tito died..?
Energy prices, electricity, has walloped just about managing people
jan1956
too many mohers get nails done hair dyed pink BEFORE buying food. When they do buy food it is junk (the plea i cannot afford fruit and veg is rubbish. They need to learn to cook and stop ordering deliveroo etc
Oh the irony.
Deliveroo workers don't earn enough to support a family, and have to claim benefits on top of deliveroo wages
Joseann
The OP talks about teachers being overwhelmed, so of course accommodating additional immigrant children, who don't speak English, will give extra work and cause additional stress. It may not be the main cause of disruption in the classroom, but it must be a huge problem.
Strangely, my younger three children (22,24 & 26) all attended a Primary School with a very high number of speakers of English as a second language. There were 26 different languages, I was Deputy Chair of the school Governing Association and Chair of HR/Finance for 14 years.
Our amazing and innovative Head made a positive of so different nationalities and cultures and teaching/learning an additional language in Primary School was actually remarkably easy.
This was several years ago, it’s not a new issue.
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