To think there is not really any chikdren in poverty in the uk

[Domjolly]

I think last nights comic relief has really brought home to me and my family that there is not really any children in the uk who live in REAL poverty

There is not one child that has to walk 3 hours to school
There is not one child that cant get some form of education
There is not one child who can get medical intervention
I think you would be hard pressed to find familys which children who are homeless or who dont have clean water and sanitation

And i actaully now thing people who say this is insulting to children who do live in real poverty

I think it's poverty on a different scale. I understand what you're saying though so yanb entirely u.

I think there are many who do slip though the net and who do live in neglected squalor and no one, in the uk, in this day and age, have to live like that.

My husband is Gambian and we have family and friend who live in in conditions that would be unacceptable here in the UK e.g. 4 children sharing a room, open sewers, dilapidated accommodation. However, they have healthy food, clean water, education and medical facilities which are not present in other parts of Africa. But there is no spare money at all and people survive day to day and have very possessions. But most people are in that position and people are generally happy, have productive lives and bring up their children well in a society where religion and respect for elders and family is paramount.

But I disagree with you that some kids do not live in poverty here in the UK. I do agree with you that the poverty usually goes hand in hand with parental neglect I.e. benefits money spent on socialising or gadgets rather than good food. But some families are slipping through the net more and more, particularly working poor.

I don't think money alone can solve poverty either- otherwise we wouldn't have needed comic relief last night, we'd have solved it all by now...

Competitive suffering is ick.

Ah yes it's all down to those bloody feckless parents on benefits, not the fact that the state of the economy is horrendous. No. Of course not.

There will always be child poverty. There will always be child neglect. Just because one country has a huge problem with extreme poverty does not mean that everything here comes down to neglect.

I think many DC suffer in the uk due to neglect.

I also think DC suffer due to long term low income. Benefits only provide the bare basics, what happens when your fridge breaks, or your shoes wear out? You borrow of course. Which leads to those benefits not even covering the bare basics.

I was going to link to that peach.

Op I guess it depends on your definition of poverty. IMO there are children living in poverty in the uk

YANBU.

I don't believe we have real poverty in this country, and the suffering we do have is not caused by a lack of money or access to basic things in life. It's caused by many things, and I know suffering does exist here, but I think it's insulting to people living in true poverty to say we have that here.

My very first for OP Obv,

Is it not relative though depending in which country you look at?

Also a huge oversimplification to suggest that all the poor people are in Africa and all the neglectful people are in the UK. Don't you think?

I think we need a different terminology

The terms absolute and relative poverty refer to two completely different things: one of which exists in UK, one of which doesn't. Absolute poverty is literally a killer. But relative poverty can be too (compare life expectancy between certain UK regions:)but then again, even our lowest expectancies are years are years ahead of places with absolute poverty.

The similar terminology means it's too easy to start comparing the two, when actually it is possible to deplore and seek to alleviate both.

I don't know how that smiley got in there - it's a gremlin, not something ai deliberately typed. Many apologies - I don't find this subject remotely funny.

Why are there foodbanks in the UK if people aren't hungry?

What, is it a fucking competition? Because these terrible things aren't happening in this country it means that all the "poverty" that does occur here should be dismissed?? OP, you are extremely narrow minded.

Those of you who believe there is no child poverty in the UK, please read this
by the Children's Society.

So what is the OP saying then? Those struggling in this country do so through their own fault???

YABU. There ARE homeless children in this country. There are families living in unheated, insanitary homes - who cannot afford to save private rent deposits in areas where there isn't any available social housing. They're living in hovels that make them ill and have no way out. What is that if not poverty?

Poverty does exist in this country, but as with most countries with poverty the majority never see it, or even know about it.

You give the example of access to vaccinations - you are assuming people live in walking distance of a GP. Not everyone does. They may not be able to afford to pay for travel to get there, not everywhere has buses and taxi costs are out of reach of many families. In that type of circumstance those people may not have access to vaccinations for financial reasons.

We have elderly people dying because they cannot afford food AND heat. Surely dying through lack of money for necessities is poverty.

Just because you don't see it it doesn't mean it's not there.

Some of the richest countries in the world have mass poverty on the scale seen last night.

YABU. Yes, we need to be concerned about children in poverty in Africa, but that doesn't mean there aren't children suffering here because the safety net of the welfare state is being unravelled. To give just one example, how about this baby that died of cot death in a bedroom with chronic damp www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/nov/19/housing-crisis-damp-cot-death

I disagree, what about asylum seekers? Those families who live in other peoples back gardens, with no sanitation and running water? In my borough this has been a big issue recently with the council trying to clamp down on this.

I know homeless families, one woman escaping dv, had no access to bank account didn't know her in number to claim benefits, had to pay for b and b as no I'd and stuff, she had to survive on charity. Another woman Canadian living with husband, no access to public funds or work visa, escaping dv she wasn't entitled to anything, her and kids again had to rely on charity.

Children of illegal immigrants, one woman I know came to uk as a student at 17 then she had kids and a relationship here, she has been trying for years to sort out her status, it has been going back and forth, her kids are born here, but she cannot get housing, she has to rely on subletting others council properties, or sofa surfing with her kids as these let's normally last only a month or two. A lot of the time she doesn't have money for food, all her money goes on taking her kids to school, because she moves so much school is far.

Another woman is a student, here on student visa, her husband is an asylum seeker, they met and got married in uk, have a Child, he has been waiting seven years for decision, just last week he was given right to remain.

I could go on.

Some really vile comments on this thread. There is relative poverty in this country and people really are going without. Neglect?? FFS!

Here are some FACTS on child poverty in the UK

Nearly 4 million children are living in poverty in the UK (after housing costs)

The proportion of children living in poverty grew from 1 in 10 in 1979 to 1 in 3 in 1998. Today, 30 per cent of children in Britain are living in poverty.
The UK has one of the worst rates of child poverty in the industrialised world

The majority (59 per cent) of poor children live in a household where at least one adult works.

40 per cent of poor children live in a household headed by a lone parent. The majority of poor children (57 per cent) live in a household headed by a couple.

38% of children in poverty are from families with 3 or more children.
Since 1999, when the current Government pledged to end child poverty, 550,000 children have been lifted out of poverty.

Within two years, almost 7.1m of the nation?s 13m youngsters will be in homes with incomes judged to be less than the minimum necessary for a decent standard of living, according to a new report

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/majority-of-british-children-will-soon-be-growing-up-in-families-struggling-below-the-breadline-government-warned-8531584.html

The circus on TV is nothing short of corporate sponsored propaganda, the people who benefit from and cause this poverty both here and in the third world are: bankers, wealthy investors, they are backed up and their activities faciliated by: The IMF, The FED and the WTO.

Whilst they are busy cashing in on this you are invited to hand over the cash and look the other way and deny rising child poverty here, why would they pull the wool over your eyes and obscure the facts?

Charity begins at home...the UK. Supporting global projects is fine too, but we do not need it rammed down our throats or via emotional blackmail. Yes, I do give to charities - those of my choosing. I know where my money and my donations of clothes etc end up - do you know where your donations end up????

You know, OP, one of the reasons we don't have absolute poverty in this country is because we have a welfare state. You know, the thing that many people would like to see dismantled because a tiny minority exploit it.