to think new mums should be given free bus travel?

[bella411]

I know there's a recession and it is more an idealism but why couldn't / shouldn't new mums have free bus travel during their maternity leave run much in the same way as pensioner bus travel. Money is often tight they have appointments to go to such as drs and health centre and maybe even hospitsl visits.

My "local" play groups are all not really walking distance, neither is my drs. Also visiting friends and family I have to rely on them picking me up or public transport.

Where I live the public transport is good and reasonably priced £3.40 for unlimited daily travel.

But I feel in free bus passes were given it may help encourage some new mums to get out and visit more playgroups and maybe even get out more.

What do other people think?

Does bringing up the next generation of people mean that they are somehow better than other people? Some single people might not be able to have children, have had children, lost a child. Old people are possibly grandparents. Having children does not make you special. There are other ways in which people can contribute to society without reproducing.

No it really doesn't mean they are better people, but my point is that it is the next generation of people we need to think about and their oppertunities and well being, no child asked to be born into a family who can't afford or don't prioritise taking them out but I believe every child deserves to be taken out.

It isn't for the sake of the parents, it is for the sake of the children.

wombat I think you can get a monthly pre-payment certificate for prescriptions. Well you can where I live but not sure if it's a local thing or not.

status Yep, been there done that with cuts to provision for children with disabilities. Currently trying to work out how to get one of my disabled children to his sensory appointment when to get to the nearest place that does them by bus I would have to get 2, one of them not wheelchair accessible. It's a pity we can't share things we are entitled to but don't use. DS2 didn't have the SN buggy he was offered because I couldn't get it on the bus. That could have gone to a child having chemo. He used less than half of his free 15 hours at preschool too. I offered to donate the rest back to the pre-school so they could use it for another child who needed them but it wasn't allowed. I could have my granddad's bus pass that he's never used.

Forgot to add that I think the scheme organised by the children's centre that birds mentioned was a brilliant idea. I find that the staff at children's centres are much better than the government at identifying parents who need help as they know the families they work with and the government just see numbers of children, income etc. I went on an art and craft course run by the children's centre for vulnerable families once with a free crèche. It was great and helped families, some of whom wouldn't normally be entitled to get help. I think there were a couple of mums who had PND, one mum who had triplets, me with a disabled child, and a couple of single mums and teenage mums.

The buses in my town are bloody expensive! Its £5.00 for a day rover! I get free bus travel, luckily but it didn't encourage me to leave the house.

I didn't go out alone for a whole month after having DD, i was terrified!

I think buses should be free for every one all the time.

It would be ace!

Why stop there, Lynette. We'll have free trains, and taxis - that would be ace too!
Come to think of it, why do I have to pay for holiday flights? Let's make them free as well.

New parents can go outside if they want - they have feet. They mightn't get to go where they want but free bus passes with not alleviate the loneliness or isolation some parents feel. Fwiw I found the bus with a baby & then a bus with a baby & toddler possibly the most stressful, sweat inducing experience of kids.

Yes, new parents can go outside with their feet if they want, but not to meet other people, get to health appointments etc they can't - not if they live in a rural area. Travelling by bus is stressful yes, but staying in all the time with little ones is worse imo, and not great for them either.

people with certain health problems get a free bus pass (I used to have one). Why not parents with young children?

sallying I've always fancied a two week cruise round the Mediterranean.

If I say I've made a woman pregnant, might I get one for free?

I feel free busses should be free for people aged 27 and next year 28 and for people with blue jumpers if I happen to be wearing one .
Im guessing op is a new mum and feels that this is the most important section of society until her kids go to school then free transport to schools/education budgets should be top priority

If your child has a disabled bus pass, an adult travels with them free. Perhaps an adult could travel free with an under 5?? I think (and not just because I'm a bus user;) that it genuinely would encourage mums to take their children out to Children's Centres, libraries etc. here, it costs almost £7 return every time I go into town. It is 12 miles so can't possibly walk. It is prohibitively expensive for most people, I imagine there are huge numbers who can't afford it at all.

You can get a free bus pass if your doctor considers you need one within the specifications your council provides, if they sign the form you get one.

As a disabled person it's made my life a lot easier, but I wasn't disabled by being a mum, I was disabled by not being able to walk and being in pain.

I would say physical exercise and time outdoors is good for both mum and baby.

It's not really a financial thing, you don't get it if you don't have much money, you get it if you have a need for transport caused by age (deterioration of the body over time) or by disability. Occasionally I think there a schemes for job seekers, but new mums I don't think really need it unless there is an actual physical issue.

I think it's a really sweet idea, and that's all the discussion it merits.

I do think that when some women become mothers they seem to get a heightened sense of the differences it brings to their lives, and, again sometimes, these people lose track of the actual vulnerable people in society.

Being a mother in itself does not confer any special priority on your needs and wants. Being a mother by itself doesn't make you a vulnerable adult needing the help other vulnerable sections of the population might need.

I'm not talking about the OP, I've seen this, errr, 'forgetting' happen in many different contexts, and it's not a nice side effect of motherhood / a role change.

I think we need children to get child fare before 9am first, oh and return tickets before 9 would be nice too, I don't mind paying for DD because it was my choice to travel further for a decent school and we can walk it so only use the bus when it's really nasty out but paying for £6.65 to get her to school on time, when it would be £3.30 if I took her in half an hour late, annoys me.

I don't think it's a practical idea, would be a pain to administer and would make a limited difference to new mums' lives across the whole social group.

I've used buses much more in the last 12 months because my SPD prevented me from walking the 10 mins uphill back home from the local shops. I'd drag myself down the hill, then have a single journey home. I still do it now if my toddler is flagging, and he sees the buses an exciting treat. For a serious journey, I'd use the car, but the bus makes pottering around much easier. Not really worth a public subsidy for the benefits it would give to me.

The difference is that single people and old people are not bringing up the next generation of people

No that's not true: they are paying for & have paid for the bringing up of the next generation via taxes, and the work they do. Every single child raised in this country is supported, paid for, and cared for by many many more people than its parents, and we should recognise this. About a decade ago, it was calculated that each child in the UK cost taxpsayers a minimum of £100,000.

I think the real problem is the disparity across uk in

costs of living
actual services ie not every town has train station, rural areas poor bus services.

when dd1 was little all the buses had steps no low level on my route.
First bus drivers seem to hate kids and find the experience stressful so avoid.

To get to nearest 2 job centres would be 2buses costing £4 or 1 bus costing £6.

My gps is now 45min walk and not on a bus route anywhere near me they relocated to new premises so when joined they were handy.

schools -seems odd london dont pay but outside london people pay vast amounts.

Then take into account devolved areas

wales/scotland.
random councils giving free travel, swimming, free school dinners to all.

Its fair to say

income varies depending on area.
as does housing costs.
but cost of raising a child can be different in each area too.

I know someone with 2 in seniors paying £1200 a year in buses she cant drive them as has to get younger 2primary and a lot of schools are not walking distance.

where as say for example you live in issslington and yours kids get free travel , free school dinners and theres more ammenties things are not overly far from each other.

Last few years has seen

shortage of school places men parents doing 2 schools which costs them extra childcare/travel.

closure of sure start centres, medical centres, libaries mean people forced to travel further not everyone has the basics on their doorstep.

one could argue that this generation of parents have harder time as

high housing costs.
travel costs
childcare costs are huge not everyone lives near families for free childcare.
tuition fees.
rising energy costs, cost petrol running a car these days is high.

I agree that it has probably never been harder to be a parent, it has probably also never been harder to be a child especially when you factor in all the exams kids take, the ridged curriculum and reluctance to let children play out by themselves.

Bus travel is really a very small part of the picture. I am proud that the taxes me and my partner pay ( no different to the amount we'd pay in the UK) pays for heavily subsidised nursery for all children from their first birthday, generous child benefit to all children which increases with each child born, free university education for everyone, great schools ( there is only a handful of fee paying schools in Sweden, even the very wealthy send their children to local schools) heavily subsidised wrap around care for school children.

The free bus travel for parents with pushchairs and children up to the age of 7 is actually not state subsidised, it is given by the bus company, children also can ski for free, visit IKEA and see how many baby changing facilities there are and how cheap kids meals are and howichat thought they put into making things enjoyable for families.

The culture of respect for childhood in Sweden is in my opinion the way things should be.

Nelson Mandela said "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."

yes how easy is it move sweden? what skills/language you need.

saw programme on how be german and things look better over there.

The uk is so bleak and hard work at times we lie to work here.

sometimes think uk is crappest place bring up a family.

Sweden is in the eu so British people can move here easily.

It is important to speak Swedish and it is hard to lean as the Swedes speak perfect English so often people just talk to you in English. To find a job you need decent Swedish but lessons are free.

You also need good thermals, it can be really cold in the winter.

Some truly silly comments on here 'blue jumpers', 'cruises around the Mediterranean'.

If a successful society/economy such as Sweden can do this it can't be such a daft idea.

There are lots of people who would benefit from a free bus pass but more importantly there are real benefits to society, that includes all of us. The cost/benefit equation is probably more equal than you might think.

Also the benefit might be offered to a wide range of people but will only cost if people take the offer up and use the service. It's unlikely for example that wealthy pensioners are taking up their bus passes at the moment.

The Swedish model certainly gets my vote. Heavily subsidised good quality services for children and limiting the benefits paid to 'feckless adults'

Living there certainly appeals-if it wasn't for the cold!

The comments about flights and cruises are because a number of people think the OP is 'truly silly' to use your phrase. There are all sorts of services that would be nice to have free, but there is no such thing as free. Everything has to be paid for somehow, by someone.
It costs a certain amount of money to run a bus and carry passengers.
When you say 'I want a free bus trip'. what you are actually saying is 'I want the other passengers on the bus to pay my fare for me'. They might not want to do that, and they may very well only just be able to afford their own fare, without paying yours as well.

It is strange because public transport is much cheaper here than in the UK, for example a months pass to use all the public transport in Stockholm including the suburbs (up to around 50km out of the city center in all directions) is around 80 pounds, that includes busses, trains, underground, boats and trams.

The parents with pushchairs arn't paying, the kids under 7 arn't paying. The system is amazing, I have experienced the public transport stopping 1 time in my 3 years of living here and that was a day when snow was falling so fast it was causing drifts on the roads and rails.

I think by encouraging families to use public transport maybe the transport company can function with lower prices and a better service than UK transport companies just by the volume of people who use public transport.

SALLY There is no evidence that OVERALL this would cost society anything. I respect your points but costs and benefits is not always such a simple equation as you suggest.

Economic and social activity ultimately creates wealth in societies. The social and economic benefits stemming from the policies discussed should benefit us all.

The OPs comments whether you agree with them or not are at least reasoned.