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

YABU OP.

You mention the internet as a marker of not being poor. It's becoming vital to exist in this society.

Are you aware that, in the next couple of years, all benefits will have to be accessed via the internet? And that libraries - some of which offered free or subsidised access - have been closing?

Many schools expect children to use the internet to produce homework.

Something like 25-30% of people don't have access to the internet. The benefits changes and schooling issues above could change their situation from relative poverty into abject poverty.

madre dio OP!!! how can you even type this

Anyone wishing to raise money to fund the child op can nailak. Inc the expat community
If she were Scottish I'd suggest Scottish community dig deep.anyone can if so moved
There's a charity in London called scotcare for scots experiencing hard times in Ldn

No children living in genuine poverty in the UK?

Let's just say this government is working on it. Just wait & see. Fans of Dickensian period dramas will be rubbing their hands together in anticipation, no doubt.

Benefit family here, need mobile phone, absolutely essential for living, and so is the internet. Without them, quality of life would be awful. I'm disabled and I need a way to communicate with the outside world, shop and get help if I need it. Just going out to get it is not always a choice I have. HappyMummy

Stop focusing on the media version of families on benefits and start thinking with your head.

Scarlettsmummy2
No worries and so easily done, been there more than once!

anyway I have contacted bbc and huffington post to ask if i can get permission from the family to fundraise on their behalf.

I believe that there are different definitions of community, i don't consider myself part of a community based on ethnicity or whatever, my communities are those I live and interact with, who are from various ethnicities and cultures. This is a child born in the UK we are talking about. The child's community is surely all of us.

Nailak,well done initiating fundraising.it's certainly an option to this
I simply suggested her parents expat community,as starting point. others too can contribute
Child born here,yes.but child not uk citizen eligible for emergency treatments only
Welfare benefits have eligibility criteria,henc people can be ineligible for recourse to public funds

Is this now merging with the thread about the child of overstayers who needs an operation?

Oh fgs. There are plenty of homeless families in this country - and their number is rising. Do you think it's easy to keep your children clean, warm and well-fed when you have been dumped in a grotty B&B for months because there aren't enough council houses? With no fridge, no cooker, only one room and a shared bathroom?

Just because there's appalling poverty in Africa doesn't make appalling poverty in this country disappear, or less of a scandal. Funny how it's always the poor who are written out of existence - people who are rich or comfortably off don't have to go around for apologising for existing just because they are a million times better off than an equivalent family in South Sudan or wherever.

scottishmummySat 16-Mar-13 13:54:40

I think you're being obtuse that kids absent from school unnoticed, neglected by drug using parents as if it's a norm
It's not norm,this is minority,not majority
It's v sad and dysfunctional and I hope such situations result in appropriate interventions and outcome
_

Hold up. I never said it was a majority. Please don't call me obtuse when you've misunderstood the premise of my posts.

I am glad you agree that it happens.

Clearly we all share the hope that something is done to sort it but that doesn't mean it always is.

YANBU!

There is no ABSOLUTE poverty in the UK. There is however poverty of aspiration.

Most of the relative poverty in the UK is the fault of selfish and inefficient parenting rather than the fault of the state etc as we only too often see in the news (Philpott tragedy for example).

it is, and should be, a relative term. I weep sometimes when I read on here of people living in flats where the damp is so bad that there are mushrooms are growing on the walls. Never have I wondered if they are living there because the parents are too lazy to get jobs because it is irrelevant. Poverty is relative to your culture and no child should have to live like that. It is easy for me to say it, but I have actually worked in these places and I have experienced children who live in poverty who have parents who feel far less hopeless than people in the UK. If you have a welfare system, you have a complete responsibility to ensure that children do not have to experience poverty and unacceptable living conditions and the great thing about the UK should be the access to decent housing, education and social mobility. If that is not happening then the UK is failing and forget the rest of the world unless you want to find a cause and support it. Nobody deserves to live in poverty, wherever they live.

Orwellian, you have no idea. None whatsoever.

YANBU: there are no Chikdren in poverty, at least I've never heard about it if there are, whatever chikdren are?

Are they like young chickens?

will read thread now...

I agree there is no children in real poverty in the country by necessity. However I'm sure there are individuals who's parents either aren't aware of or aren't receiving the help that is available, and who's children are therefore suffering, or who's parents are using money for things other than the children.

But I think any child in real poverty in the UK is more a victim of neglect than poverty as support is available here.

for OP

So those (many working) people who have to choose between food and heating, don't exist?

Those parents who go without food so their children can eat, don't exist?

Those people who can't afford the very basics of clothes, don't exist?

There are so many working poor in this country and it seems a lot of people have no idea about how hard it is for some people.

Oh! Children

Yes, of course there are children living in poverty. I know plenty of families who can't afford to heat their houses and put food on the table.

What would you call it when you can't provide basics like heating and food?

Relative to the rest of the population there are many children who live in poverty. Welfare reform is going to increase that number. There are areas of the city I work in where you can't buy decent, reasonably prices healthy food. Children go to school either not having eaten or eaten crap. A lot of it is to do with education, as well as very low incomes. Some parents simply don't know how to cook a decent meal.

Can I put my hand up here and admit to worrying about the cost of heating....I have been told my house is cold...but I am too scared to put the heating up above a certain level due to the cost.

I don't consider myself "in poverty" although I am currently on benefits. I have a long history of employment and will eventually be able to return to work. But I do consider it an issue that people struggle to heat their homes etc.

Food...I am a good cook and cook from scratch....we don't go hungry. I am so glad I only have DS though.

what I find interesting - aside from the op is that people who have more right wing views seem to be blind or deluded and those who have left wing views are informed and insightful.
MN seems to have gone from a place where people can have discussion and disagree about things to a fit or fuck off kind of place

This thread depresses me. My Mum bought me some food this week because I'm skint. I owe my Dad money because he paid my electric bill so I don't get cut off. Didn't realise it's because I'm such a shit fucking parent :(

And yes I have internet on my phone, because I need it for college. Trust me, it's practicably impossible to do assignments with no computer, but I'm managing because I'll be no better off if I take a minimum wage job. At least this way, I know I'll be better of eventually.

*YANBU!

There is no ABSOLUTE poverty in the UK. There is however poverty of aspiration.

Most of the relative poverty in the UK is the fault of selfish and inefficient parenting rather than the fault of the state etc as we only too often see in the news (Philpott tragedy for example).*
Orwellian dear, I do keep telling you that the Daily Mail website is thataway>

I wonder why people want to deny poverty exists? Is it because otherwise they might have to spare a few seconds of their valuable time to give an actual shit about other people less fortunate than themselves?