Am I the only person who thinks parents should feed their kids outside of school?

[HalloweenDoughnutAnyone]

Obviously it goes without saying I don't want any child to go hungry. But. Am I the only person who thinks parents should feed their kids outside of school?

Just that really.. it's free school dinners. Not free lunch all year round.

I don't understand why people think the tax payer should be paying even more? Maybe, if you can't afford to cover the basics (food and clothing) you should think twice before having a child?

Or should we extend free school dinners, to cover all the food a child needs inside and outside of school ?

I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush but I know people who rely on free school dinners. But have sky tv, expensive mobile contracts etc

Er, it's not free meals all year. It's help during a pandemic when many of these families will have lost a lot of income.

I think children shouldn’t go hungry in the 5th/6th largest (whatever it is now) economy in the world. It’s not absolute - I believe strongly in parental responsibility and a small state - but it’s just too easy to fall through the cracks at the moment and there needs to be a safety net.

I think the bottom line is that the children whose parents aren’t feeding them adequately, whether that’s because they can’t or won’t, aren’t able to fend for themselves. They’re pretty much helpless. So while I have some sympathy with the point you’re making, I don’t believe in letting kids go hungry for the sake of a few million quid.

Of course there are some people who have free school meals and Sky etc. There are also some people in real poverty where the parents are barely eating so that they can afford a cheap loaf of bread to give their kids some toast. These are the ones people are worried about and sadly numbers are rising.

You are labouring under so many misapprehensions that I honestly don't know where to start.

YABU

Maybe go and read the thread that's currently running about food poverty and what causes it. Hint its not sky TV and foreign holidays

I assume you haven't been furloughed with 66% wage and having to wait 5 weeks for universal credits to kick in to try and top that up.
My very first

Shouldn't we be more concerned concerned about the circumstances which leave families where both parents work still unable to afford basics?

How theres money for politician pay rises , apps that don't work ajd hospitals that were never used but not seemingly to feed children at a time where many have list jobs and income

Or that it can cost you hundreds to kit out your kids fir school

Or that so many peoples don't get adequate education which would help to pull them out the poverty cycle

You do realise people are locked into contracts even when they suddenly become to sick to work or get made redundant

You should have stopped at your first sentence.

I'm 50/50 on this.
I understand it during the pandemic, many families have been finically impacted due to furlough, redundancies, job losses etc. However I know of several parents who now believe that they should be given the vouchers for every school holiday moving forward. Their argument is if they can do this now, they should do it all the time. That to me is a big fat NO! Take some responsibility for your own children, and feed them yourselves.

I don’t even know where to start with everything you’ve said but whether the parents should feed their children is not the point. The children aren’t being adequately fed and they shouldn’t go hungry because their parents can’t for whatever reason feed them!

Yes some people probably should think twice before having a child...but surprise surprise things change! And you can't exactly send the child back can you.

When I fell pregnant both DH and I were in good jobs. Now we're trying to survive off of one low income and struggling.
I need a phone to contact people/places and I need the internet to work (and contact people) so to us, these are essential.

don't understand why people think the tax payer should be paying even more? Maybe, if you can't afford to cover the basics (food and clothing) you should think twice before having a child?

Illness, loss of job. You never know what’s round the corner.
should only the rich have children? How much money should they have in saving to qualify for having a child?

Children are that are fed and heathy achieve more at school and have better chances in life so it benefits all of us to have well educated children.

What an original idea for a thread.

In my area the council were delivering packed lunches to all the free school meals gang throughout lockdown and the school holidays.

Most of the people receiving them were asking on Facebook if anybody wanted them, and were otherwise putting them in the bin.

You know that you are not alone because the government agree with you.

Are you aware that people’s circumstances can change? Currently we are in a pandemic where people have had to live on less money for months and are facing living on even less. In my area applications for free school meals are up massively on the same time last year. Families need that help to see them through this exceptional time. I cannot imagine being the kind of person who begrudges a child £15 a week instead of directing my outrage at the massive of amount of money this government has wasted.

I agree OP.

I think it’s important to be able to see the bigger picture and balance the various interests in the nation, without getting swayed by moral panics or sob stories. In my observation sentimentalism always makes bad policy and always has unintended consequences.

One thing the government could do to help enable people to feed their children properly is to sort out the totally ineffective CSA (or whatever they're now called). So many single parents in poverty because the non resident parent refuses pay maintenance.

It's a pandemic if you haven't noticed.

Wages and jobs are being cut left right and centre. Best not to let children go hungry on top of everything else.

YAB massively U here. You have no idea what people's circumstances are, and if they have changed due to loss of job, illness, etc. And regardless of that, I would be happy for my taxes to ensure that no child would go hungry.