to think that you should not moan if you are not entitled to a £500 pregnancy grant from the government.

[OracleInaCoracle]

my db's sil is pg with her 3rd. she is 19 and living with her husband in a nice village. he works full time, she never has. she has been moaning about how unfair it is that she cant get a £500 maternity grant because her husband earns too much.

now, surely the grants are there to help people on very low incomes? things are pretty shit at the moment and will get tougher, especially for the poor. if you earn too much to receive the grant, then you dont need it, surely? im happy to be explained to why i am wrong here, but they decided to have 3dc's under 4. they are not living in poverty, his job pays well.

and dont get me started on the benefit claimants living in the lap of luxury comments....

They were talking about changing it so it's only for your first child - not sure when/if they're bringing that in though.

Thanks for that, didn't think it was still available so that pretty fab,cheers x

i recieved the 500 grant for my son. i was very grateful as i was living off my uni loan at the time. i used it to pay for a pushchair and a cot, carseat and nappies. whats the problem with that? thats what its for.

you shouldnt get this grant if ur on 40k and its your 3rd child!

lostrequiem charity shops, ebay, freecycle, carboot sales. the only thing you shouldn't buy second hand is a carseat. everything else should be fine as long as you check out all the fitting etc before you buy.

do you work? does your husband work? ask around in work. get him to do the same. start going to a mother and toddler group. have you no family/friends at all that will be buying gifts for the baby? don't be afraid to tell them what you need.

my son's cot was £15 from a girl that works with my mum. blankets were all either my baby blankets or Exp's baby blankets. clothes were either gifts or second hand. my from birth pusgchair was £49.99 brand new from a small baby shop and is now on its second child 5 years on. you don't have to buy from the likes of mothercare etc, try all sorts of places. lots of the charity shops have baby clothes that are brand new with labels because people get so many or else they have the opposite sex to what they were expecting. shops like instore do really great basics like vests, sleepsuits, bibs etc. remember, you won't need lots of equipment straight away. you don't need a baby bath. bottles can be sterilised in a basin with milton.

YANBU - but as someone else eaid she is 19. She'll learn

I also think it should be scrapped. ridiculous waste of money.

I don't buy anything new (apart from matress and carseas)
realy enjoy finding bargans at charity shos and carboots.

oh yes toto. mattresses should be new.

What nancydrewrocked said - Govt should not be paying people to have children.

In OZ they receive $5,000. GBP equivalent about 2500?