How do we know the extra welfare payments for multiple children will be spent on the children .

[hattie43]

A genuine question really . I don’t begrudge the children and I’ll save my irk for the parents but how do we know the extra money will be used to support the children in the right way giving them a better start and turning them into these honerable citizens. It worries me that the kids with feckless parents are going to be given much more money but the parents spend it on themselves not the kids . Just because these parents have more money doesn’t mean they’ll use it responsibly or change the attitudes they may pass down .

You don’t know what they’ll spend it on, but those who will neglect their children’s need can be rich or poor, most parents prioritise their children.

I don't think "your evidence" shows that, at all @SumUp

The thing that confuses me is poor people having dc is not a new thing, so many posters on various threads will claim they grew up in poverty etc. but on these threads it’s somehow a new phenomenon.

Oh please OP.
The money will go to the family finances.
We don’t need this level of financial policing.

Here you go, have a read…

https://ifs.org.uk/articles/two-child-limit-poverty-incentives-and-cost

Although judging by your tone, perhaps data and evidence are too complicated for you.

Neglect is the primary cause of children ending up in care. There are 54k kids in care. Some people, regardless of how much money they have will not care adequately for their own children. we wouldn’t need social services if people automatically did the right thing.

And the alternative fo t give money where the vast majority of children will benefit due to a small number of idiots?

I had a great dinner yesterday, with my kids, with some of the ingredients you've named. I also have:

My own kitchen
Cooking utensils
A fridge
Ancillary ingredients like oil, spices etc - I needed little amounts, but obviously when I bought those things I needed to buy them in standard packs
Electricity that I can use freely and pay for
Time to cook
Bread / porridge to give my kids if they didn't like what I'd made/refused to eat it
A place to eat

As a person who runs a food bank - it is absolutely Oliver Twist "out there". Most people, when they give their kids a 50p Asda pizza or send them to school on rubbish cereal or a milkshake (or nothing) - they are as smart, able and committed to their children as you or me.

I will benefit from it. I have 3 children on hrc and low rate mobility, so honestly don't need it. Are you all sure it's only for working families and carers? That part wasn't very clear.
There will still be child poverty then surely. My own family aren't even happy for me and they don't even know what my children already get. They are having nasty digs, but would anyone refuse it if they were me ?
I can assure you that it all goes on my children and makes their and my life a little easier as it's difficult enough already.

In one of the early Adrian Mole books, Adrian’s mother admits to spending family allowance on gin and cigarettes. If social services hear about it, she will get done

which used to be universal & look at how much more social housing we had….

In many cases it will not.

I am all for reducing child poverty but the way to do that is:

• link receipt of benefits to children attending Sure Start style schemes from the earliest possible age.
• Provide nutritious meals (not cheap sugary cereals and white bread) at schools.
• Ensure children can attend school holiday camps outside the home.

I can absolutely guarantee that the feckless family down the street will spend the additional money on even more cannabis while continuing to breed irresponsibly and produce even more damaged, feral children who run wild and blight the neighbourhood. And for every one of them who morphs into an Angela Rayner, 99 will end up on benefits at best and most likely in the prison system.

My current caseload includes:

A family where the kitchen is shared with others, some of whom pose a realistic threat to the kids - so the mum is scared to use it or let the kids out of sight.

A family where any food we supply is stolen (room can't relaibly be locked) within hours - we've settled on giving food daily, via schools.

Two where the mum is skipping meals so kids can eat well enough, both have fainted on me. Both DV situations.

I could go on.

I think its more that it could have been better spent on other things that would more directly benefit children. Better free school meals for example, better funding for childcare so childminders and nurseries can afford to run, holiday clubs, adult education for the unemployed or projects that would stimulate growth in the economy and eventually make it more affordable. Why was the money not tapered or the limit increased to 3 children? Why tax people only to throw it all away on this?

We don’t, no one knows. I think this policy was a mistake. Of course we don’t want child poverty, we equally I think people who have more children need to think about how they are going to fund Them. I know it’s easier said than done, but I don’t think families with two or less children should be picking up the bill when they have thought about the consequences of having more children and are being responsible in their budgeting. If you are so reliant on child benefit for your extra children, maybe you shouldn’t be having them

There are a few memes circulating about the free breakfast clubs and the parents being able to drop them off and go straight to Wetherspoons 😆 looking around the town i live in, Im sure there is probably a few crumbs of truth.
I only wish that I had been paid that much kn benefits back in the early 90s when my ex left me penniless with 3 small children. After I had paid everything out I had 50 pence left each week

If you watch “Rita, sue and bob too” film they discuss having kids for the benefits and that’s set early 80’s.

It’s a shame they haven’t thought about bringing surestart back

I find it difficult to see how many people think parents on universal credits are irresponsible. Most people in universal credits work full time and are good parents, it is just that the cost of living (particularly accommodation) is such that the minimum wage is not enough.

The question “how do you know it will be spent on the children?” Is always piping whether the person is receiving benefits and child maintenance. Please remember that putting a roof over their heads and food on the table also counts as “spent on the children”

I think it’s because benefits are available but previously capped at two children. Jealousy creeps in because a lot of people have stopped at one or two children largely because of finances. It quickly creates a ‘them and us’ narrative which is never ideal really.

I am not the one judging @SumUp your interpretation of the article that you linked does not support what you posited.

Child poverty in this country is shamefully high. As a nation, we should care about this, not be attacking the “feckless” parents.

Working people not reliant on benefits also have to provide food for their children and a roof over their heads. They also have to look at their salary and make a decision about whether they can afford more children.

I asked her about my Family Allowance today, she laughed and said she used it for buying gin and cigarettes.”

It’s not entirely serious! Pauline, his mother, is a full time working mother, and her reply is tongue-in-cheek. Adrian had thought that by rights it [the family allowance] should be his, and wanted to know what she did with it.

We don’t. Some children will benefit. Sadly some parents, of every demographic, are just arseholes who don’t care.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-revives-family-services-supporting-500000-more-kids