AIBU to think people shouldnt be getting money for having children?

[normality]

i know it is is controversal but i dont understand why some people feel the entitlement to get money for having children and aibu to think it should stop?

I think that if people want children then they should have them but they should not feel they are entitled for some kind of monetary hand out for having them

I especially feel like getting money for being pregnant like the sure start grant, maternity grant, healthy start vouchers ect should not happen because if you cant afford to have a child why should the goverment pay you to do this? what about the people who do not have any children and choose not to or can not why should they miss out on multiple grants and vouchers when they are paying more and more taxes to support the people who choose to have children and then choose not to work?

• i have a dd and although i wanted a large family i could not afford to have more than one child so stopped but never claimed any grants ect because i did not want to be paid for being pregnant as it was my choice

By your reasoning, just because I wanted them to be helpful in finding me a job, I should forego every single benefit under the sun. That makes absolutely no sense.

StealthPenguin... I'd give up if I were you. Threads like this attract the same posters who will immediately jump on you and stuff their own personal circumstances up your nose until you concede defeat.

To those jumping on Stealth Penguin for her post... some benefits agencies are very helpful, some aren't. I used to contact them through work and it can vary from person to person, agency to agency. They have contacts with the local authority... you know, the people who DO have access to the housing agency...

Stealth is right, there should be huge efforts made to help you find a role, however her expereince of what happens if someone then states they are expecting is worrying.

Yes, I agree, there are a number of posters who cite all sorts of circumstances and a million reasons why nothing should change.

....

My God, someone defending me? On Mumsnet?! I must really be in Narnia ;)

Loving the name by the way :)

Every time I post anywhere I get attacked from a total blind-side by idiots who just want to pick holes in my posts

Welcome to MN :)

But things ARE changing?

Are they? It would be nice to think so, but I've seen no evidence to suspect it :( It's actually quite depressing...

Nobody should be averse to change Rocky, provided that any change is intelligent.

I hate threads like these because they are largely emotive and anecdotal ("I worked with girls who......" "I lived next door to a woman who ...."). Anecdotes are NOT data and nor are they evidence.

Not to mention that we can't have this discussion without also considering a whole raft of issues - education for example, the economy, unemployment, taxation, government spending decisions .............

Scott... Not everything is attribued to facts and figures; indeed on here facts and figures are meaningless because a) only a sample is referenced - and it's skewed to the poster's opinion and b) unless you're a statistician with access to the raw data, assumptions are going to be based on correlations of .... nothing.

I'm quite happy to read anecdotes on a chatboard, they tell me more. :)

The French have done a lot to try and get the "right" sort of babies to be born fwiw, they are way ahead of the UK on this.

scott - How do you propose we collect data on whether young girls/woman have babies knowing there will be the welfare state to support them? If you look at the stats on the number of woman having babies while being unemployed for example, that doesn't tell you. There are, as you have pointed out, other circumstances that may have lead to this situation. Or does a statistician go and ask every mother giving birth and claiming benefits why they decided to have a baby in the first place?

The stats don't exist, because this kind of subtetly is hard to capture with data. That is why people resort to anecdote.

But for young girls/woman who are NEET's i.e. not in employment, education or training, having a baby gives them a purpose, someone to love and some status among their peer group. Some look back with hindsight and wish they had waited to get pregnant, but for some it is a deliberate choice.

Op why are you claiming child benefit if you do not need it then?

OP YANBU. Many people seem to think handouts come from an endless pot that will always be there. The way things are going, that may well change. Get 3 jobs if you have to to support your kids. They're your responsibility. YOU keep them out of poverty.

Course changes are being made! With more coming. Doesn't happen over night does it?

Child benefit changes have already happened.
Changes to ESA
Housing benefit changes due
Disability 'frauds' being weeded out ( that one is close to my heart)

There will be more, these are just the start

Did I understand that right OP? You berate others for claiming benefits but you claim child benefit but don't actually need it because you put it in a savings account for your child?

What delightful Daily Mail hypocritacal bum. Shouldn't people with such well-thought out, morally virtuous views lead by example?

The Government's own figures show that disability fraud is 0.05%.

If you read on you will see op has tried to 'stop' her claim as she doesn't want it, but lo and behold, it just won't 'stop'

OP, I'm curious.

How far would you take this ideology?

For example, would you pay people extra for not having children? Or pay people to get depot style contraception?

Am starting to feel a little sick...

Eugenics, alive and well!

Disabled people are entitled, yes I did use entitled, to have a family if they so choose.

Whatmeworry I think everyone is doing their best to ignore helpful, constructure points like that.

constructure = constructive

What do the French do?

YANBU OP

I haven't read the 11 pages but I agree (mostly) with your opening post. I have no idea what the answer is though. Because I do think that in a civilised society, there should be a safety net for people finding themselves pregnant with no means to support themselves. But the problem with the safety net is that there will then always be people using that net 'intentionally'.

Will run and hide now.