Workfare scheme for loan parents of children as young as 3, as of next month.

[WaterLoadaCack]

kept that quiet didnt they

Plymouth childrens centre does all saturdays all day for working parents

I dont live there but relatively close.

ok, but thats just Saturdays... not enough hours to sustain a family. Do they have lots of places, it is available to children over the age of 5?

and again, what would your answer be to randalls issues?

How close is 'relatively close'. Could you get there without a car.
What hours constitutes 'all day'?
What about Sundays?

Those are all rhetorical questions btw but do you see what we're trying to say?

At my work, the hours are 8:30am till 9:15pm 6 days a week and then sundays 10:30 am till 5:15pm.

In theory i could work more hours, ignoring the fact i would not be better off. However, the full timers work on a 4 week rolling rota of those hours. I would NEVER be able to find childcare. I will NEVER be able to go full time there, not least till DD is about 15 and comfortable with being on her own on an evening. Shes currently 8. Ive got a damn long wait.

Yeah I know places that do all of those. All my childcare places are on foot and all my children have done 50 hpours each but thats lucky I live where I am. No idea why other places dont do this.

Way to completely avoid answering the question there
Methinks someone would make a marvellous MP.

i think the questions arent being answered, because the poster that knows it all, actually doesnt have the answer.....

:)

heisenberg999 you seem to have an unreasonably really down view on single parents, particularly those you say are uneducated.

Not having qualifications or a job, doesn't mean you are a crap parent, or that you don't engage with your child and just go home and watch TV.

I always find it odd when people express that sort of view about the parenting skills of 'uneducated' women, or a 'certain type' of woman [I have read comments like that before] but yet they don't mind leaving their own children in the care of such women, so they can go out to work. I am not saying that women who work in childcare are uneducated as standard, [nor do I think being uneducated = of no use, or incapable], but many are, most private nurseries have a core of staff who are young and uneducated and paid very low wages as well as the qualified ones, who will mainly be in managerial roles.

So it is ok for uneducated women to act in loco parentis for your child, its just their own they can't manage to parent?

Needsmorecake Can I just mention that Home-Start is not just one organisation, but rather is made up of lots of little Home-Starts dotted around the UK, and I cannot believe (and am disgusted) that you were treated so appallingly by the one you worked at. You should write to HQ. The majority of schemes are run by extremely committed staff (and volunteers) who completely understand and are able to empathise with the difficulties and issues faced by all parents - and particularly single parents - be they families, staff or volunteers. I just wanted to point that out in case people thought it was one organisation and was generally shit!

I know it is :)

There is no point complaining, i no longer work there and they werent going to sack the scheme manager in favour of a part time receptionist.....

I was there for a fair few years, i understand how they work, i used to train the volunteers too etc etc...

Amberleaf I have been a minimum wage childcarer and my job is in childcare whilst I train to be an sw

A social worker?! For fucks sake. A social worker who has no empathy for lone parents who can't access childcare or find work. A social worker who (looking at your posting history) has huge resentment for people who don't work and people who work few hours. The people who end up stuck with you will be so lucky to have such an unbiased person working with them who empathises with and tries to help them.

Yeah, I was a less then min wage childcarer many moons ago too. I know some things have changed since I did it, but many haven't.

I think you could do with dropping some of the prejudice you have about single out of work Mums before you embark on a career as a social worker, you see things so black and white and it really isn't that simple.

Moom and the rest of you that are having a go because I don't agree with your take on life. ..

...Don't make stupid assumptions. My mom brought up six kids by herself after my father fucked off . She worked full time for min wage in a country with f- all benefits. She is the most respected person I know. People in our home town think she is a fucking hero. .. doh! called that wrong didn't you.

I am not talking about things I know nothing about I am well aware of what true poverty is. Something that the vast majority on people on this board cannot even fucking imagine. When last did strangers deliver food to your door to ensure your child didn't starve? Did you have to push start your car every day of your life just to go to school? No phone because we simply couldn't afford one. Not knowing from one day to the next if your electricity would be turned off.

You know nothing!

And that my dears is why I believe what I do. Because I lived through the shit and learnt the lessons that living your childhood like that teaches you. I will make damn sure my children never have to go through that and the only way to do that is be financially responsible for them. The rug (benefits) can new pulled out from under you at any time. Is that a risk you are willing to take with your children's lives?

so yes. Maybe to some I may seem like I am talking or my arse but hey ho. .I don't give a fuck!

V good point Amber

Heis has your conversation withus on this thread today given you any new insight into single parenthood?

You haven't read a single word have you African?

Glad you weren't my social worker though it would explain why 3 out of the 5 were absolutely appalling at their job and had no idea.

The government, in their wisdom, have shut many of these places. Your area might be well served but it will be woefully inadequate if the government start making single parents do workfare. Where are all these extra places going to come from?

Our school has a brilliant after school provision but places are limited due to health and safety and there is no way there would be enough to cover those single parents as well as the parents who already use it.

African - What makes you think people here on this thread have never experienced those things themselves?

African, what makes you think lots of women have had the same intention, and then life has declared otherwise? death of a spouse, the father walking out? etc etc...

I grew up in poverty, and my mum worked for some of it. That meant we were dropped off at the school playground early - teachers nowdays wouldn't allow this. We were cared for by neighbours afterschool and during holidays - no OFSTED and I am sure the amount my mum paid them would have not equated to childminders rates. And when older, we were left at home alone afterschool and in the holidays. And by older, I mean from about 9. Again wouldn't be allowed now.

In countries where lone parents have to work, children are either not supervised as closely as children here, or extended families look after them for free. It is really not comparable to paying for the very expensive childcare there is in the UK.

The rug (benefits) can new pulled out from under you at any time. Is that a risk you are willing to take with your children's lives?

Do you think your work 'ethic' makes you immune from all the many reasons why people find themselves unable to work, or do you assume that it's because of your work ethic that none of those things have happened to you?

You are only ever a heartbeat away from illness, disability, the same of any of your children, bereavement etc etc.

It can happen to anyone.

I've been keeping up with this thread since the beginning. I really feel for the many of you who are struggling as LPs. God knows, I struggled enough when my kids were younger and I had a very supportive partner.

DD1 was a LP until very recently and worked full time in a job with very long, erratic hours. But she was only able to do that because I, DH and DD2 were able to look after her child for a full 5 1/2 days a week. She had literally no childcare to do on the days that she worked. She hated doing it but she had no other way of keeping her job.

I used to froth and get worked up when I read some of the rubbish that gets written on here by certain posters who always pop up on these threads. But I've come to think that they're probably not that bright as well as lacking in empathy.

But I've come to think that they're probably not that bright as well as lacking in empathy.

Oh yes.

If we all had relatives like you Gilda no-one would have a problem working. Good for you for being so supportive

Amberleaf - Exactly. I have worked long hours for years. Now because of chronic health problems I just about manage to work part time. If I didnt have a partner who worked, I would have big financial problems.