one and a half million neglected children in uk

[Longlost10]

Action for children chugger in the shopping mall this afternoon, tried to convince me that there are one and a half million neglected children in the uk, relying on charity donations for education and medical care.

can't get my head round that.

I think me skepticism offended him, but I didn't find anything he said convincing...

AIBU? or is it true?

And poverty and neglect are related in the poverty is a risk factor for neglect.

related, in that they may both be related to something else, such as alcohol abuse, etc.

And poverty is I suspect not so much a risk factor for neglect, as a risk factor for being investigated for neglect. How many millionaire houseeholds are the subject of neglect investigations?

Experts don't suffer from poverty. Experts may neglect their children

I think you are right Helena, I think I have my answer anyway, no, no one does beleive there are 1.5 million neglected children in the UK, and the chugger was simply lying.

And on a separate subject, there is no consensus at all about how to define or measure poverty!

no one does beleive there are 1.5 million neglected children in the UK, and the chugger was simply lying

You don't think there is the small chance that the chugger simply confused the words poverty and neglect? Given that they are related.

So you've started this thread and argued how it's bitter and angry single mothers who actually neglect their children, not the NRP fathers who don't pay, all because you wanted everyone to agree that there can't possibly be 1.5m children being neglected?

Good for you, glad you got the answer you needed to tell yourself.

How very bizarre.

Amarok i agree with your posts. Non payment of Child Support is treated as trivial and treated as the elephant in the room by some of these charities.

No OP, by virtue of the fact you can not afford a washing machine that means you can afford a £4 a wash laundrette (unless you're really on skid row and can only afford hand washing) the £4 laundrette visits are clearly more expensive than buying a £250 washing machine. Being in poverty means you don't have access to £250 in order to
Make that investment. Whether that be in the form of affordable debt or cash.

The fact the half the world don't have washing machines is neither here nor there- there are plenty of reasons someone may not have a WM - not least lack of plumbing and availability of white goods, as well as being in the third world- but something you seem to be missing time and time again is that poverty in the UK does not mean better than a homeless person in Delhi or someone in a shack in Nairobi- it is based on what someone in this country can reasonably expect their life to be like.

Child maintenance - or lack of - should be a massive scandal. It is a scandal that it isn't. Unfortunately it is far too easy to blame the single mother. As has happened here.

Has anyone else reported this pile of shite for the goad fuckery that it actually is?

What calpol said!

I think poverty makes neglect more likely. Love and neglect shouldn't be confused though. Significant financial pressure can lead to neglectful actions (or inactions). It's not a lack of love.

It costs money and requires a phone/ internet or bus journey for some of the families I know to make a doctors appointment. If they dont have a landline, many many dont, dont have a mobile (again many dont) dont have internet access at home then a childs illness, sore tooth etc may be left to see if it goes away. They may feel a need to wait to make an appointment until money comes in.

Trips to the dentist can worry some families that its yet wnother person to critisise them when they're trying.

I volunteer with a charity trying to break down some barriers for families with young children. Its not about poverty but about family support. However significant financial problems are something thats a major factor in stress on the families the charity supports. A lot of volunteers for our charity provide support for appointments, be it making the appointment in the first place, accompanying families to appointments, sitting with some of the children whilst parent/ one child goes into an appointment.

Education is meant to be free but there are many costs like weekly snack money, swimming lesson donations, trips. For some families they may just keep the child home if they don't have the money rather than have to continuously go cap in hand to the school. I think any parent of a school age child, regrdless of financial status, can relate to the continuous requests.

I'll post one last time because all this stats shite is really pissing me off
Until you have all been there done that and haven't got the t- shirt stop going on and on about less fortunate people.
Count your blessings and be grateful for what you have even though you've worked for it.
We are all vulnerable and anybody can lose their job, so what happens if you can't find another; you become a statistic just like the people others are quoting about.
We live in a me me me society and people get left behind then criticised and then looked down on as the underclass which says more about those criticising that those who are poor

As for NRPs yes they should be hauled over the coals. I'd be a lady of leisure if mine could be found and made to pay up.

Ok I've said my piece apologies if it isn't grammatically correct, so I'm out of here.

We don't have a washing machine and my children certainly aren't neglected or living in poverty, we go to the launderette twice a week. Everything washed and dried in 45 minutes for £5. Much better for us than messing around hanging things up to dry and we simply don't have the room for a washing machine or tumble dryer

Poverty does not necessarily equal neglect. These days, no child really needs to be without a winter coat, for example, because we have so many car boot sales etc that you can pick one up for 50p if you're lucky. It might not be the latest trend, but it will be warm. What people can't afford these days is heating for the house because wages have not risen in line with other things like utility bills etc. I know quite a few families now who are trying not to use their central heating anymore, and just go to bed early in winter to keep warm. Chillblains are appearing again in the school nurse's room where children are coming from cold houses into warm schools also. People are also living in inadequately sized housing again, where they perhaps scraped together enough to buy a small house 20 years ago, as a young couple, and are now unable to move up the ladder because house prices have moved out of their reach, so families of four are still living in one-bed flats or tiny two-bed terraces. This is not quite the same face as the poverty of the mid 20th century because it is confused by the fact that people living in these overcrowded cold homes are paying a mortgage on them, but it also does not mean that the children are neglected. Far from it.

However, there are children who are neglected in terms of not being taken care of by their parents. The house might be adequately sized and warm, but the parent(s) don't bother getting out of bed to take the children to school, or the older siblings are responsible for putting a meal on the table for the younger siblings because the parents can't be bothered. Parents continually fail to make doctor's appointments for their children, or to put any dinner money into their dinner money accounts. They show no interest whatsoever in their children and often leave them home alone and potentially at risk while they go out, or perhaps shut themselves in their bedrooms leaving the children alone for hours. That's neglect. Lots of other examples, but these are the things I see.

We don't have a washing machine and my children certainly aren't neglected or living in poverty, we go to the launderette twice a week

But if you didn't have a washing machine and couldn't afford to go to the launderette.....?

btw, you can get a whole families clothes washed and dried for 5 pounds? That is crazy cheap.

It's unusual though isn't it Lucy, to not have a washing machine in this country.

Something most people would expect as standard.

I recall about 20 years ago it wasn't uncommon to find a London flat which didn't have plumbing/ room for a washing machine but that was dealt with en mass by the refurbishments people did in the noughties when borrowing was easy and cheap and money to be made on property was massive. It's very uncommon now.

Yes there are only 4 of us and DPs uniform gets washed at work and my DDs are both baby's so no uniform washing at all.
Yes it is unusual and I have to admit, once we have moved into our house in the next few weeks I will definitely be getting one but not going to get a tumble dryer I don't think