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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why all benefits are not limited to two children only

425 replies

SuzysZoo · 10/08/2011 13:59

Ok. I know that this is going to be a bit contentious. I don't mean retrospectively either. I just wonder why, in these cash strapped times, the government doesn't just say that all benefits, child benefit etc should be limited IN THE FUTURE, IN AT LEAST 9 MONTHS TIME, to 2 children per family only...... My point being that if you have more you should support them yourself. AIBU?

OP posts:
BooyHoo · 10/08/2011 16:47

and it is still a fact that people do come off benefits. whether i do or not does not affect the fact that other people do. are you telling me people do not ever come off benefits? is that what you are saying?

BooyHoo · 10/08/2011 16:49

i could also give you a list of names of people who i know have come off benefits. the fact that i know them personally does not make them not people. therefore they are people that have come off benefits. fact.

Pendeen · 10/08/2011 16:52

BooHoo

Either support your assertions by facts or simply restrict yourself to treating us to your life story.

Don't try to confuse personal circumstances with generalisations about such important subjects as social welfare policy.

ThisIsANiceCage · 10/08/2011 16:53

Pendeen, let's start from a clear statement, devoid of personal examples.

"Being 'on benefits' is not a permanent state of being; some people come off benefits and contribute to the pot themselves."

Do you believe this statement is true, yes/no?

fuzzywuzzy · 10/08/2011 16:58

What if you had triplets or something?

BooyHoo · 10/08/2011 16:58

pendeen why cant you answer myquestion? do you not know the answer?

Fifis25StottieCakes · 10/08/2011 16:59

"Being 'on benefits' is not a permanent state of being; some people come off benefits and contribute to the pot themselves."

I think its true

tootiredtomakeupagoodname · 10/08/2011 17:00

I think you are BU, as a mother of two DS who would like more DC I claim CB, am a SAHM and do not claim any other type of benefit, DH works full time. What I do not agree with is that in a previous employement I used to have to help employees fill out tax credit and CB claims for their children/wifes living in Poland, this used to wind me up as invariably these men lived rent free in on site caravans, did not drive, brought cheap cigs and booze from Poland and shopped as cheaply as possibly to send all their income back to families in Poland therefore putting nothing back into the UK economy.

Fifis25StottieCakes · 10/08/2011 17:02

of course people come off benefits and refill the pot or the system wouldnt work. You double working as a single parent than what you get on benefits

purits · 10/08/2011 17:30

I can't believe the sense of entitlement on here! So many seem to think that they can have as many children as they want and the State has to pay out because ... erm, why do other people have to support your decision?Confused The only answer I have seen is "why should the kiddies suffer for the parents' mistake" which is just moral blackmail.

I think that there should be one child pregnancy allowance per person (in a nuclear family: one for mum, one for dad. Non-nuclear: work it out yourself). It should be one child per adult for population sustainability reasons.

carpetlover · 10/08/2011 17:36

But Purits, the population issue is a separate argument. I'm about to have my 4th. Is that ok because I don't claim anything, not even CB? We support ourselves but are still about to add another child to the growing population.

5GoMadOnAZ650 · 10/08/2011 17:39

Dp has this week been laid off as he has been off sick for 6 weeks with bad angina attacks. We have 4 dd's, we wouldn't be able to survive if we could only claim for two of them, as it is in 6 weeks we still haven't received any hb or c tax benefit, and are now having to reapply for everything as he won't be getting ssp anymore.

tethersend · 10/08/2011 17:40

"I think that there should be one child pregnancy allowance per person (in a nuclear family: one for mum, one for dad. Non-nuclear: work it out yourself). It should be one child per adult for population sustainability reasons."

Can you answer my earlier question about what happen to the subsequent children born to parents who refuse to work?

northerngirl41 · 10/08/2011 17:43

But Carpetlover, you aren't expecting someone else to pick up the bill for it!

It's like if someone decided to have a dog - they would have to provide a suitable home for it with access to a garden, buy its dog food, make sure it was trained properly, make sure their lifestyle could support having a dog and letting it out during the day etc. You wouldn't just get the dog and then expect someone else to provide everything else, would you?

And yet, people who couldn't afford to have a dog are allowed to have a child because it's assumed that the taxpayer will pick up the bill.

Mishy1234 · 10/08/2011 17:52

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I don't begrudge benefits to people with more than 2 children, if the money is actually being spent on the children. In the vast majority of cases it is, but in some it isn't.

purits · 10/08/2011 17:53

So you are going for the moral blackmail route, tethersend?

If I ruled the world then there would be no such thing as 'refused to work'. Everyone who was capable would have to do something useful (eg litterpicking, hospital visiting) in return for State money.

BooyHoo · 10/08/2011 17:53

allowed to have a child?

i dont ever remember needing permission to get pregnant.

BooyHoo · 10/08/2011 17:56

and what would happen to those people who were actually employed to collect rubbish?

tethersend · 10/08/2011 17:57

But people do get dogs who cannot look after them. And they are removed from them and placed in dog's homes. And a few are adopted. The rest are destroyed.

It's not such a great analogy.

tethersend · 10/08/2011 18:00

"So you are going for the moral blackmail route, tethersend?

If I ruled the world then there would be no such thing as 'refused to work'. Everyone who was capable would have to do something useful (eg litterpicking, hospital visiting) in return for State money."

Not sure where you got 'moral blackmail' from Confused- I just want a purely practical solution to my question, please:

What happens to the subsequent children of parents who refuse to work (including your example of voluntary work) and provide for them?

Strawbezza · 10/08/2011 18:03

While there are flaws with the OP's original idea, what seems peverse to me is that for a family reliant on benefits, if they're short of cash their first choice to get more money is to have another baby. I know people who've done this, especially common is having a 3rd baby, because it entitles them to £60-odd more in weekly benefits plus more bedrooms in social housing.

Chummybud1 · 10/08/2011 18:04

I would like to say that I think some of the posters on here are amazing patient to continually debate and post answers to stupid posts like this, where the op is just trying to get a reaction. I am starting to find it all very boring

carpetlover · 10/08/2011 18:05

No, Northerngirl, I know but that post was directed at Purits talking about adding to the population. I was trying to say that I am still adding to bulging population even if I'm paying for them myself. Those two arguments are quite separate I think.

Blueberties · 10/08/2011 18:06

May I just respond to the OP?

I think this is quite a good idea. The biggest problem is - to be blunt - separating the wheat from the chaff. You don't want to fund what Strawbezza talks about, but you don't want to leave an abandoned mother of three without support.

So the irresponsible ride on the backs of the unfortunate.

BertieBotts · 10/08/2011 18:08

I'd rather fund the irresponsible than abandon the unfortunate.

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