Aibu to not know why you wouldn't be able to feed your DC's breakfast?

[Bearlover16]

Daughters school has recently extended the 'paid' breakfast club to 'free' breakfast club due to an increase in the number of children going to school not having had any breakfast.

Are people really that much on the bread line that they cannot buy a loaf of bread or some cheap porridge oats for less than a quid?

I'm not well off by any means and I do donate to food banks when I can. I also ensure my dcs have had breakfast before leaving the house as I was always led to believe it's the most important meal of the day.

[Graphista]

I've been in the position where I've had £7 left for food every week and went without food so dd can eat. Currently got £20 to last me till tue, but luckily have food in and meters topped up and it's a temporary situation, but for many many people times are really tough at the moment.

[Unihorn]

There was a bit on the news just yesterday about the switchover to Universal Credit and how late payments are massively affecting people. A woman had been waiting 8 months to receive a payment and had sold pretty much everything she owned. She didn't have children luckily but it's not difficult to imagine many people in this situation.

I'm in the Welsh valleys. It's pretty standard for schools in my area to have a 30% uptake of free school meals meaning that a third of children are in houses struggling with poverty. We do have free breakfast clubs here but there is only room for about 50 pupils so not a great help.

[Cantusethatname]

sometimes my son goes when I need to be in work early. However he takes medication which needs to be taken on a full stomach so he always has his proper breakfast (eggs or porridge) at home first, then his meds. If he eats anything extra at breakfast club I am pleased but he doesn't need to. For us - not poor, not chaotic, always have food in the house, breakfast club is a social event and a convenience that I am very grateful to have. I am aware that this is not the case for everyone and I fully support breakfast clubs.

[Birdsgottafly]

"Where I live on Merseyside it has been estimated that there are 60,000 children living in food poverty."

Yet we were the hardest hit by the cuts.

[Bubblebubblepop]

I think it's fair to say it's not usual for families to be routinely so poor they can't afford breakfast ever. There are usually other factors which mean either breakfast hasn't been organised or the money hasn't been handled well. I'm not blaming them; it's complex; but I think it's disingenuous to pretend the number of under children turning up at school is down to lack of family income.

[JuniUmiZoomi]

This isn't anything new, it's just good schools do breakfast clubs now. My mum was a social worker in the 80s/90s and for children receiving free school meals this was often their only meal of the day. Not worth thinking about weekends, is it really?

[Tabsicle]

I used to work in a residential summer camp program for kids who were all referred by social services - some in the care system, some with families who were struggling for some reason.

I had one girl come who was absolutely miserable. Hated it. Crazy homesick. She wasn't one of the LAC, there was nothing that suggested she couldn't go home. So we called her mum to try and take her home (this kid was literally not eating, not washing, was on total strike and clearly hated every moment). The mother said she couldn't come home. The reason she'd been sent to camp was that it was the only way she could get fed for those two weeks, as there were no school meals. It was heartbreaking.

As another anecdote - I recently was chatting to someone who works with the Scottish Power Foundation. They've had a massive increase in crisis grants that they make to people in extreme fuel poverty. Most of them are due to benefits sanctions. One recent one was to a woman who'd been sanctioned for three months due to missing a job centre appointment as he child was in the ICU. She had no money, couldn't pay for power, and her child's life was at risk if he came out of hospital and there was no heat or power. I've no idea what she was doing for food, but it's clear there children living in a mind blowing kind of poverty right now.

[Graphista]

Bubble - suggest you read up on how the poor are penalised by not being able to take advantage of special offers, bulk buy etc.

I do when I can but the money isn't always there. Sometimes I have to choose the long term more expensive option as the cheaper long term option is dearer short term.

Eg big box cereal works out at 10p per 100g smaller box 12p per 100g - but is 30p cheaper NOW

[innagazing]

It’s not the school’s job to compensate for poor or neglectful parenting.
Strictly speaking, it's not the school's responsibility. However they are the one's that have regular contact with the children and are in the best position to identify when they're not being fed.

The school benefit, as hungry children will find it more difficult to concentrate and are more likely to be disruptive as a result.

I think it says a lot about how many children and families are living on, and below, the poverty line. Changes in government policies are likely to make the situation even worse.

[Bubblebubblepop]

I'm well aware of that graphista.

[StAlphonzospancakebreakfast]

I don't really understand the point of your post OP? You said you didn't understand why people couldn't feed their children breakfast, people explained why, then you said well I still don't understand why. Yes, people can't afford food, you could read some of Jack Monroes posts about how heartbreaking it is to have to say to your toddler there is no more food. Or how horrific it is for hundreds of thousands of children in this country during the school holidays when they don't have any free meals.
But whatever the reason, is the new policy directly impacting on you? If not then isn't it great that the school are doing it?

[lozzylizzy]

Breakfast club works well for my youngest daughter who is in nursery attached to the primary school. She has never been a 'morning' person since being newborn, I remember having to wake her at a couple of months old at 7.45 for a bottle otherwise we would have never got to school on time with the eldest and she still needs waking in stages to be able to get out of the door to nursery at 7.45.

Eating is the least of her priorities and taking her to school first and then her eating is the best way round, even if she does think its bacon sandwich Wednesdays every day!

[mintinbox]

People don't think breakfast is important. Children with rich parents don't always get breakfast.

[BackforGood]

IME, it isn't about money, usually, but about families that live more chaotic lives, and families that just don't value breakfast, and families that get up too late, and families that just don't fancy breakfast, etc.
Yes, if you are organised and if you are good at budgeting, and if you like breakfast, and if you consider it to be an important meal, then the people that actually couldn't afford breakfast would be massively reduced, but life just isn't like that.
You could watch something like the Ambulance series that is on at the moment, and look at the high % of calls that should not need an ambulance and highly trained paramedic - there are a lot of people who are not coping with life. It's not always about money.

[YellowMakesMeSmile]

It's an indication of society, poor parenting seems to be on the increase and school and the state are having to provide more and more for chidren as the parents won't.

Whilst free food solves the immediate problem, it would be better to increase social services budgets so they can get to more neglectful families and resolve the situation one way or another for the children involved.

[Coconutspongexo]

You know full fucking well some people can't afford to feed their children, if you don't know that maybe you should stop posting threads on mumsnet and do some research/watch the news/go out into the wider community.

[Undercoverbanana]

OP - why don't you go and volunteer to do some sessions at a homeless centre or a food bank? Rather than take the word of people on MN, you could see it first hand in RL. Oh - and take your DD along too - the more people in society know about the economic truths in this country, the sooner things might change.

[AuntLydia]

In my local area food banks ran out of food completely over the summer holidays and free holiday clubs were reporting that children were constantly begging for food. So yes, I can well imagine that people struggle to give their kids breakfast. I suppose it's easier if we all assume that it's down to shit, feckless parents because then we don't have to feel guilty or responsible do we?

[slimyslitheryslug]

I used to be quite naive about this sort of thing so, when donating to food banks, would give good, filling cereals like weetabix or porridge. Then I read a similar thread on here and realised how vile weetabix would be with water or, worse, as it is and how porridge requires heat. No, if I donate cereal, it is just about always cheerios as they can be eaten as they are and most kids I've met like them.

[TriHard27]

Breakfast club is free here and I use it as pre school childcare on the days I work. Otherwise I obviously give them breakfast at home.

Most of the dc at our school's breakfast club have working parents so it's possibly not targeting the families it was originally intended for but it's very useful for those of us who start work earlier than school.

[DontDrinkDontSmoke]

Child of the 70s/80s here. Mother who didn’t arse herself to make sure we had breakfast. I would have LOVED a breakfast club. Saying that if it was paid for we wouldn’t have been allowed. She had money, just didn’t like spending it on us.

[arethereanyleftatall]

'Poor parenting is on the increase'
Why is it?

[Welshmaenad]

It must be nice for you not to be able to imagine not having a quid to buy cereal and milk.

I remember one humiliating moment a while after my ex lost his job when we had a young child, having to go to boots and use my advantage card points to buy milk in little pint bottles, because we were overdrawn and it was the only way I could think of to get milk. Thank god I had the advantage card.

[AtSea1979]

OP how many children do you have and do you work?

I have 2 DC and they need to be in two different schools by 7:45. I find mornings incredibly difficult. I can't afford breakfast club food so they eat at home. It's very stressful to have them fed and ready on time whilst making sure we all get enough sleep.

[Hamiltoes]

My kids don't get breakfast but thats because we leave the house at 6.20am. They're just not hungry when they get up and our mornings are quick- up, dressed, hair and teeth and then out the door.

I'd love a breakfast club and would pay for it if available. I give them cereal bars and then find them in the car when I get to work! They're just not that interested in eating that early but are probably hungry come 9am. Breakfast clubs sound like a great idea, and not just for the "poor" and "feckless".