AIBU to think its not acceptable for a homeless woman to have to give birth on the street.

[Thelnebriati]

Homeless woman gives birth to premature twins on a cold street outside Cambridge University college
www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/homeless-woman-birth-premature-twins-17471458

How could anyone think your being unreasonable?

Yes, for some reason homelessness spiked in 2004. The graph here puts that in context.

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/dec/18/homeless-households-in-england-up-by-23-in-a-year-official-figures

I think its clear reading this thread that many people still believe there is a reasonable safety net in place. There just isn't.

I don't find it hard to understand why a woman would self exclude from a mixed sex homeless hostel. It wouldn't feel safe to me, even if I knew how to access one.

Some people are saying 'why didn't she just call an ambulance'', but a quick look at google maps shows only one public phone box in the city centre. If you don't have a mobile phone (or any way to charge it) then you can't get immediate help, and you cant't claim benefits either.

I know stuff about this lady through a family member and I'm told she's already had kids taken off her and wouldn't take up or stay in accommodation even if offered

Of course you do @OdeToDiazepam.

It wasn't for "some reason", @alsohuman, it was due to years of Labour policy. (Which very much puts paid to the ludicrous reminiscing that there was no homelessness under Labour).

Homelessness is such a complex issue, impacted by everything from addiction to globalisation, that blaming one party or another for it alone is just absurd.

But don't let me stop anyone from using a homeless woman giving birth on the street as a political football.

This is the most ridiculous AIBU ever

A homeless person dies every 19 hours and you think people who are concerned are being ridiculous.
Sure, whatever.

I do yes, someone in my family is part of the homeless group that goes out every Friday evening

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-charts-which-show-how-homelessness-has-soared-under-the-conservatives-a7198966.html

Thelnebriati Hits the nail on the head, reasonable safety net in place people are so shocked & angry when they find out that there isn’t a safety net & Universal Credit isn’t going to provide enough, then they get angry as “they paid into the system” and it won’t now pay there rent in full or cover all there bills...then they get sanctioned- which through them deeper in debt & the spiral of destruction gets worse

It doesn't surprise me at all Odetodiazepam. I expect I know of her too, and it isn't an unusual situation at all

The woman may have been offered options and may have declined. Was she a long term resident of Cambridge? People who want help with housing often rock up in a new town or city, where the LA has no duty of care. Do people really think that all the homeless in London have any real connection to the city? In reality many won't. Very little information given about the woman, just enough to get angry reactions.

@Gran22
I seriously doubt she just rocked up to cambridge, one of the biggest cities in the country for inequality, and expected to be housed. I could be wrong, but Cambridge is pretty known now for how many rough sleepers there are in town.

I don't find it hard to understand why a woman would self exclude from a mixed sex homeless hostel. It wouldn't feel safe to me, even if I knew how to access one.

This is SUCH an important point. Sadly the Labour Party have decided that men can be women - all they have to do is say that they feel like a woman - and then they can magically access all women's previously safe spaces. So single sex hostels (desperately needed) are now considered transphobic. Ask Dawn Butler. See also Jo Swinson.

Another reason that the Labour Party lost votes.

It wasn't for "some reason", @alsohuman, it was due to years of Labour policy. (Which very much puts paid to the ludicrous reminiscing that there was no homelessness under Labour)

Which Labour policies caused a spike in homelessness in 2004?

'Which very much puts paid to the ludicrous reminiscing that there was no homelessness under Labour'

No one has said this

Love s bit of a straw man.

@AlsoHuman By 2004 Labour had been running the country for 7 years - you're not seriously trying to suggest a spike in homelessness after 7 years of Labour rule is also the Tories' fault?

Confessions the Tory’s were in power from 1979- 1997 & the sell of council houses was their initiative, it’s still causing issues now as there is so little social housing in reality to the need.

www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/commercial-awareness/legal-spotlight/the-history-of-transgender-rights-in-the-uk- This explains why after losing the Goodwin case the laws were changed

"I seriously doubt she just rocked up to cambridge, one of the biggest cities in the country for inequality, and expected to be housed."

Based on my professional experience, a surprising number of people actually do this. They arrive in Cambridge with no local connection and then seek housing advice, complaining that private renting is unaffordable and wanting social housing. Of course the list is very long even for people who meet the local connection criteria.

There is a housing crisis in Cambridge (and throughout the UK) but people in vulnerable situations are often not well informed and don't always make decisions that others might see as rational or logical.

(I have no idea about this particular woman btw.)

I feel sad for the babies but this woman had a family, a job and children. She left it all for drugs. Her family have tried many times to get her clean and on her feet but she doesn't want to know. Her twins will have been born with an addiction to class A drugs. That's the saddest part of the story for me. Also the money raised through the crowdfunding has been given to appropriate charities rather than directly to her, which is the best thing tbh.

And it's worth noting that Cambridge is like 2 parallel universes. In one, you have Some of the most expensive housing, mega rich people and lots of middle/upper class.

In the other is some of the most deprived areas in England, just look at North Arbury and Fen Ditton. A very big drug and prostitution problem. Modern day slavery and people trafficking happening under everyone's noses and 90% are oblivious to it.

The story is sad but it's not a surprise, especially for somewhere like Cambridge.

She had already been offered accommodation and the council doesn’t know why she was on the street.
www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/woman-who-gave-birth-on-cambridge-street-was-offered-accommodation-9094816/

That's not surprising. :( I hope the babies will be ok.

On what planet is North Arbury one of the most deprived places in Britain?

By Cambridge standards it might be poor, by countrywide standards it’s normal.