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

Look, raise your hands if anyone has said "we shouldn't target children living in poverty" / "we shouldn't help people who have a genuine need to avert destitution".... no one? Eh?

So what we should really be discussing is about how this is done.

The option to continue the current system isn't an option - economic forces have removed it from the menu.

In summary - everyone here appears to agree that we need to support families. But how is the problem.

Surely it is better use of time to focus on that?

I'd like to see a news link to this family chocchip is talking about actually.

And tbh - there are plenty of young women (I wont reveal where but very multi cultural area) near me who are never going to work, who dont have a regular partner, who dont see the need to contribute, however they are very aware of what they are entitled to. Is it Glasgow who has 20% of families who have never worked -someone correct me please. And that was in the golden years of employment. There really is no reason now to get pregnant 'accidentially' but people do dont they.

I expect the swimming pool wasn't big enough

Some people are getting DIAMONDS for having their children (see other thread)...now thats a sense of being entitled to their entitlement.

Thank you to the posters who have read this thread and engaged in actual debate and not just said i am the anti christ or that since i do not agree with being paid for having children i must in turn have something against pensions, the nhs and dla i do not so please do not assume this as it is incorrect and that i assume families with more money raise better children as this is not what i have ever said or think

In regards to my dd child benefit i claimed when she was first born but afterwards have tried to stop this only to have it stopped and then restarted as they believe a mistake has been made not that i have actively tried to cancel it and this is why it goes in a separate untouched account

Tea and Cake - it's the TV link I gave earlier in the thread:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016ltsh

You'll know the bit I'm talking about as it's the only kind of family he talks to (but he does visit a large range of people on benefits, some which are designed to illicit more sympathy than others, naturally).

It's the bit with the two parents and their children sitting on the sofa, they have a little tour of their house in London - about half way through (ish).

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016ltsh

Actually it's about 36 minutes in. That's the family I was talking about. But I would urge you to see it all. He shows winners and losers in the current system.

With the Govt cutting housing benefit though won't they have to move? I'll watch the programme later as I need to get to bed.

Because it isn't the fault of the child. Because a child shouldn't be punished for their parents mistakes. Because we are civilised. Because children growing up in poverty isn't ideal.

I agree with Double. We need a rethink about supporting families in geninue need but at the same time as properly supporting them we do have to address the issue that we just cannot afford to support people who never work but choose to make decisions that others pay for.

No they are limiting it to a multiple of the local area's averages - which doesn't work when you have a local housing market that has already vastly inflated prices, and/or a shortage of council housing (or types of housing - areas where there are only e.g. 2 bedroom houses on estates, or a massive lack of larger family homes, or no flats for young couples.. sometimes that's more of a problem than just having no council stock left).

The interview after the segment with the counil officer discusses this in a bit more detail, again, worth watching - it's quite a short interview.

Ilovetiffany- So if they only claim for that year knowing they will not get any more help for another year then yes a year is a lot better than the thousands of families who live on the benefit system for the 16 years of that childs life and in that year they are in receipt of benefits it should allow them to become more financially stable and then not need any more benefits from the goverment and just use the tax cuts instead

I sold my last baby for a diamond.

I dont know Tea, I have looked at how the LHA cuts will affect me, and my LHA will only be cut by about £5 per week (based on what I found anyway) so maybe, maybe not! My local council would allocate her 4 beds for LHA rates or social housing, which is how many she has.

Hope you got a big flawless one. sparkle sparkle.

Natation and Double Choc I take your points and I agree there are a minority of cases where the situation appears to be palpably malignant. However, I would like to see John Humphries balance this by producing some documentaries about the living conditions of many ordinary families who live on benefits on London estates such as the Patmore, the Doddington, the Roehampton, the Alton, all based in the borough where I live and where abject poverty lives cheek by jowl with absolute wealth. It isn't pretty, it isn't enviable and it isn't what most families, mothers or immigrants would chose for their children.

Again I thought once your youngest child turned age 5 you were now encouraged back to work under a new govt initiative

The situation about the family wanting to stay in the house when the father had been kicked out. Its very sad but when my M&D broke up many years ago we had to move, tough and not ideal but that's life tbh. I would love to never be made redudant for example because it would destroy my family life and what we are aiming for over the coming years but I would survive. We cannot always have what we want.

That's interesting nickname I must watch the programme link.

Right.

Mr and Mrs Scumbag- although, let's be honest, they're probably not even married- have three children. Actually, let's make it four.

They both refuse to work.

Can somebody tell me what happens to the four little scumbags when their parents get their benefits cut?

Where I live LHA is limited to the average for the area anyway. IE, I have 2 boys, and therfore am entitled to 2 bedrooms. The average rent for a house that size here is £184.something per week, hence that's how much I get.

Ok, tethersend. What is the answer, I am stuggling to find one, the children are here (all four of them!) but is really throwing money at the feckless going to be the answer.

Well, Rocky, since I'm not saying that their benefits should be cut, the ball is sort of in your court as to what happens to the little scumbags...

Ha ha ha...you TRIED to stop the child benefit bit it won't stop!

How hard are you trying?