How would you tackle child poverty and improve outcomes?

Relative poverty is a bit of a nonsense. I’d prefer to use minimum standards of living (so would take into account regional variations), or absolute poverty.

But look what happened with Sure Start!

You can lead a horse to water etc

Totally agree with you. Agree with your ‘cash in hand’ comment too.

Precisely!

Poverty isn’t going to end ever if you call inequality poverty.

Agree with you OP… would also add more social housing, free, state regulated childcare so that both parents can work. Also really like Gordon Brown’s idea of giving every child a grant at birth. Would also like the Scottish Baby Box rolled out to all 4 UK countries. Defo need more Sure Starts… at present impoverished areas are prioritised, but I think the service should be available to every child regardless of parental income. Tbh, I’d like to see an introduction of a universal income too. I imagine I’ll get slated for that last comment lol. There’ll probs be a few right wingers who’ll cry it’s not the state’s responsibility to educate children or assist their parents. I disagree.

A useful site for summary:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/which-children-are-most-likely-to-be-in-poverty-in-the-uk/

A child is in relative poverty if they live in a household with income less than 60% of median income in the same year.

It also covers which children are most likely to be in poverty, and where they are likely to live.

Oh, and chase up absent fathers for maintenance.

For starters get rid of the NI increase to make it easier for businesses to hire.
Get tough on the cash in hand businesses.

We need jobs being created to be able to lift families, and children, out of poverty.

What is your definition of child poverty ?

If, as many do, you base the definition on relative household incomes then I don’t see how it will ever be tackled

Our neighbour was selling her Covid school food vouchers. Because she wanted vodka and drugs. Vouchers won’t help those who again really dngaf

You’re channeling Thatcher 🙄

Massive tax on sugar and alcohol. Subsidies on vegetables, protein, complex carbs.

Thats a good idea, tax sugar and junk food and use the money to make better choices cheaper. Although, I do dispute the oft repeated claim that junk food is cheaper, but if you made healthy choices obviously cheaper, it would be a start.

People still need to know what to do with it all, and have the time/inclination to do it though.

I would stop subsidising massive companies via UC so they can pay below CoL wages. It should be illegal to pay anyone less than a living wage. Overtime should go back to being double pay to enable parents to cover childcare costs and other antisocial costs arising from overtime.

I would change the law so that profits for shareholders were no longer a company's primary legal duty before their duties to workers and clients/customers. Then I would give big tax breaks to companies that ran on-site creches and nurseries.

I would cap gambling at £5 for lottos and sports, criminalise casinos, take class action against all casinos that have taken money from gamblers which the gamblers themselves have stolen or borrowed and left debts unpaid, making them recipients of stolen goods. And use the money to set up hubs in

Massive tax on sugar and alcohol. Subsidies on vegetables, protein, complex carbs.

I would fine feckless fuckers who walk out on their families when the children are under 18, and automatically dock childcare costs from their wages.

I would set up social housing schemes where single parent families could live in their own apartments within a complex that allowed for shared cooking, socialising, childcare etc, so there were always other adults around to share the load.

I would make it illegal for anyone who doesn't live in UK to have an uninhabited home here and insist that all properties bought as investments and standing empty are rented out at peppercorn long term rents to key workers. Or seize those properties and make them into not for profit rental or council housing.

Free school meals. Free summer holiday schemes.
Reopen the bloody libraries.
Warm hubs that offer hot food and family films and games during winter.

Much smaller schools and class sizes. Especially secondary. The shell-shock of moving from primary to secondary puts so many children off school for life, leading to poor education and prospects.

Far more trade and skill-based training and pride in these subjects from secondary school onwards.

All state schools would have identical cheaply available uniform that can be bought from any shop, not specified uniform outlets. Ditto all sportswear.
Children would be allowed to wear unbranded trainers to school so parents don't have to buy school shoes on top.

Children’s rights should always trump their awful parents’ rights.

They didn’t ask a pair of feckless deadbeats to bring them into the tough old world.

Also, more help and support given to SEN parents. More SEN schools. Assessments should be easier to access also. The battles that some of my friends have had to go through to get diagnosis, support and education for their SEN children is absolutely crazy. Two of my friends can only work very part time hours as a result.

I know many men who don’t pay CMS as they’re on benefits themselves. People never consider this - handing out benefits is keeping children in poverty in so many ways and this is one of them. It makes not working a choice (if you’re happy to live a no frills life), hence no CMS

I think you need to educate kids out of poverty, assuming they are in poverty because their parents equally weren’t educated out of poverty - and so the cycle continues. Ideally fewer poor people would have children, thus breaking the cycle. What drives some of the poorest to have large families is highly questionable. Once again - education is the cornerstone - not mopping up with UC credits, breakfast clubs and other patronising short-term strategies.

Make non payment of child maintenance socially unacceptable. Tell men that they need to work full time to support their children. None of this cash in hand self employment shit unless they are paying a reasonable rate of child maintenance (hint: more than £7 a week). If the women who have the majority care of children have to work full time then why shouldn’t the men?

As for making it 50/50 as suggested - men who don’t want to pay maintenance don’t want sole care of their kids half of the time. They’re also unlikely to truly pay costs of 50/50 - that means they’d have to pay half of childcare costs, school meals, uniform, clothing, etc etc. most men will find it cheaper to pay maintenance!

Parenting classes strongly encouraged for all parents, starting from the first midwife appointment.

More onus on employers to accept flexible working requests.

Universal Basic Income firstly

Funding to increase child to adult ratios at schools

More funding for child mental health and disability support

Fret or very affordable after school sports clubs open to all

This person did make an incendiary statement but do you think people who utterly refuse to work are fit to be parents?

That's true, dire circumstances lead people to work incredibly hard to get out. But with that come other social problems I feel aren't being taken into consideration.

If private landlord aren’t allowed to set their own rents they will leave the market. 22,000 properties were withdrawn from the private rental market in Scotland in the year following the introduction of the rent cap legislation. Rent increases in Scotland that year were the highest in all of the UK due to the excessive demand. It’s virtually impossible to get a rental in Scotland now. There is nowhere to rent. It’s a terrible idea.

If they refuse to work or to provide for their children, they’re not fit to be parents.

Didn't take long for the mask to slip OP.

Parents of kids in poverty used to get free childcare hours from 2 whereas working parents (who actually needed the childcare) used to have to wait until the child was 3. Not sure if that is still the case, but it was an interesting illustration of quite how bad some parents are.

Of all the families I've worked with there are very very few who really don't care. I'm sorry that yours was one.

The vast majority are doing their best with the tools/ability/education/MH/addictions that they have.

Early support might have helped your mother and you, but if it hadn't, if she really couldn't be helped, it would also have identified that.