Poor Kids

[NearlySpring]

Documentary on BBC1 now.

Sat here in tears watching this show following children living in poverty.

One woman, with 3 young girls all under 8. Her partner left her alone and she is struggling with money. The girls were given a sausage roll each for dinner. They are let out to play on a building site and derelict houses- where the he'll is the mother? Mother comes on saying how she can't cope financially- kids saying they have to miss meals as mummy can't always afford food. Next scene, mother has acrylic nails and a massive dog!

AIBU to ask if she can't afford to feed her kids basic cheap meals how the he'll does she feed a massive dog that is bigger than her 3 kids put together!

It must be terrible to be in that situation but surely you get your priorities straight. Who has a pet if they have no money?!!

no,no fund!!

accepting cash like that and they would get their benefits cut!

Perhaps if people in pverty had someone come out and show them how to save money and if we had communities where people could share recycle furniture and help people paint, put up shelves etc. You need some sort o f no nonsense matriarch to step in./

Oh yes hadn't thought of that the world is a shit hole

Sam is lovely and he speaks so well. His Dad should be very proud of him.

that poor girls feet

im wondering why the abandoned mum doesnt get more financial help not really explained

I haven't watched the programme, having worked in one of the most deprived inner city areas in the country I don't feel the need to (I see enough at work) but the attitudes on this thread range from horrifyingly ignorant and lacking in empathy to downright middle class condescending that wounldn't have been out of place in victorian times (matches the poverty eh?) to thankfully posts like feckwit and Iloveponyo that give me hope the rest of humanity isn't he same - or at least mn posters..

Why does the cycle of poverty continue? That'll be the lack of jobs, the lack of jobs paying a living wage , the increasing geographical divide between rich and poor, the lack of hope because of the lack of opportunity, the poor education available in poor areas due to lack of meaningful funding and lack of hope due to lack of work. the poor housing making everything worse, the lack of education leading to lack of opportunity and poorer health outcomes leading to poor health and limiting the work opportunities that are available, the hard dangerous work that is done by people in minimum wage jobs leading to poorer health...

Not one government has ever seriously tried to tackle these problems because they are afraid of upsetting the paymasters /rich. Never mind sponsoring families if people actually care try doing something,try being politically active so that things are changed.

I have no empathy for a woman on my estate. She has 4 dd's and a 3 month old baby. She is dressed immaculate and is out ever weekend paying local teenagers to babysit. She is always fucking moaning. Her dd slept at my house and i had to wash her jamas and let her wear my daughters as they were covered in shit. The dd's are always walking about with a take away box. She smokes weed or whatever it is. 2 of her dd's made cakes at my friends house and she slopped icing down her uniform. This was on Tuesday and she still had it on Friday. Her mother is a disgrace

For anyone who thinks ive had it easy

I worked, lived with the kids dad for 10 years and broke my back 5 nights a week working in a fish shop. I had my own house and a good life. I went on holidays and had plenty money. Thats all changed when the EXP got involved with an old friend who was a heroin addict, he went the same way and became violent. I nearly got my kids taken away by social services as i refused to leave the house i lived in. I ended up in temporary accomodation to keep my kids and got emergency rehoused after 8 months. In all this time my kids never lived on greggs sausage rolls. I was grateful for the help i received.

It iis one thing for a healthy person of someone of moderate to high intelligence to feed their children and just about get by on a low income. Especially with local family or community support. For someone with other complicating factors such as poor health, not knowing anyone in the area or what help may or may not be available, a physical or learning disability, poor level of English it potentially makes them very vulnerable indeed.

Having volunteered in a law centre it made me realise what a skill it is to be able to write a good letter or to be able speak fluent English to explain yourself on the telephone.

This thread reminds of reading about the 'deserving poor' and the 'non-deserving poor' in Victorian England. It suits the Cameron types to portray those in poverty as undeserving or scroungers :(

great post boysrock

havent read the thread - but you could pay some people £50000 per year in benefits and the poor kids still wouldnt be looked after properly

in our city, the council says there is an area where 56% are in poverty. I would bet my life savings that a vast proportion of these smoke, drink, have sky telly and the newest mobile phones.

in defence of the mother she was probably struggling with the baby at home

I think many people are missing an important point, which is that people who are already living in extreme poverty in England choose to have children of their own free will, knowing they will have difficulty supporting them. That's one thing I find difficult to understand, although maybe I'm being overly analytical here.

Still reeling from watching this poor kids film last night. The woman with the dog had had a break in and was scared btw - hence big dog... but that's not what I'm here to say.

Of course doing anything about this is really hard. Such a big issue. But what about the uniform thing? That poor boy Sam in his sister's blouse and the girls wishing for uniform with "details" on it.

I have at least two bags of uniform that my son has grown out of. It's in really good condition. Would be good for one more child to wear. I can give some to his school or bag it up for charity but was wondering - what if there was a scheme or somewhere I could send it where it would then be sent to the children who need it. Or made available to these families to buy easily for next to nothing? And with no stigma attached ... if that is possible.

Just wondering if anyone else would consider sending good uniform to a scheme or place like this?

I also work for M&S. I am considering approaching them with a suggestion for recycling uniform in this way. If it was supported by M&S maybe with a charity (we already work with Oxfam) involved too it could be possible to set something up specifically for uniform.

Any thoughts? Sorry it's a long post.

Thee babys a few months old, shes been like that for the past 10 years

ooohyouareawfulbutilikeyou - You just love a stereotype dont you!

Roo some schools do this already, ours does. Then the right people get the right uniform. You could ask your school or set it up yourself.

Our school recycles unifrom and you can buy great stuff for £1 per item/.

Good point Insomnia11.

Given that a lot of skills are required to manage on a low income, what is the best solution?

A living wage? mrsBethel, available jobs so people don't have to be dirt poor?

The thing I can't get my head round is the parents with Internet/big T.V's/PS3 etc who can't provide food for their children or buy some cleaning products to make their home just a little bit more habitable. Yes thats me judging. I would walk about in rags and starve to ensure my children were feed and clothed properly. I know not all parents on benefits are like this, I just don't understand the mindset of some people. A bar of soap cost pennies too, that poor girls feet were ingrained with dirt. There is no excuse for that imo. If you can't afford the basics then luxuries like the Internet have to go.

Our school asks parents to hand in uniform outgrown at the end of the school year. This is offered to the next year down at the end of the year on the last day in the classrooms. Children on free school meals get clothing for free others are asked to make a donation of any size they wish to the school.

the internet isn't a luxury anymore, have you noticed how many government agencies are on online?, what about school homework being online? or even jobs being advertised online?

Not having the internet is now a definite disadvantage.

'FlamingFannyDrawers - probably because they are too sore to wash. Do you know much about ezcema? Soap is the last thing she would want near it.

Boysrock - I'm very willing to get politically active. But I first need to understand what that means in practice. What policies should I be demanding that our politicians advocate?

How do we create more living wage jobs in the right locations? How do we improve education outcomes in poor areas (particularly given CheefulYank's observation that some people view education as snobby)?

I can see that there is a direct link between poor housing conditions and local taxes, and I for one would be more than willing to pay more local (or national) taxes to improve social housing. But is money the answer to the rest?

These are all genuine questions, BTW. I don't have the answers, or an agenda. I just want to understand and then do what I can to help.

Just found this thread. I switched the programme off after I clocked the enormous dog and flat screen tv in the front room of the family who 'couldn't always afford to feed their children'