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

I know previous well off people in creative industries who have had literally no income for months.
Others who’ve gone from high 5/low 6 figure incomes to universal credit, while still having a mortgage to pay based on their previous income.

Food prices are up, household income has plummeted in many sectors, millions of job losses.

So yes, I’d like to think we make sure the kids in these families can get a midday meal over Christmas.

How obtuse can you be?

What really makes me sad is the fact that some people would rather judge families than see children getting one meal a day.

Undoubtedly with a lot of families there are bigger issues going on alongside the fact they are struggling to access food for their children. But that doesn’t mean that the issues with regards to food should be ignored, that is one where something simple can be done while any other work that is needed is hopefully done over time to ensure the support is right

Jesus christ OP. I hope you never need support of any kind.

@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone

I whole heartedly agree. If you can’t afford children don’t have them! It’s not the Goverment’s responsibility to look after your children!

Also "you're entitled" only ever gets thrown around when talking about subjects that actually would help people.

Tax breaks, MP expenses, stupid money spent on stupid things. Not a word said.

So do you want parents to have enough money in the bank to get their child to 18 before they are even born, unless they have that they could easily end up in poverty.

People on UC must earn under £7,000 per year to be FSM. But yeah, they’re obviously living it up, going on holiday and have TV subscriptions if its such a great lifestyle I assume the OP is happy to earn £7,000 a year.

I was a FSM child when I was at school, both my parents worked, but their wages were low. In school holidays, particularly the summer holidays my blood sugars would be all over the place (type one diabetic) because my parents had to rely on cheap carb heavy foods, foods that are completely unsuitable for me.

@EddieVeddersfoxymop

OP, I'm with you in a way. Totally agree with free school meals through the school term- breakfast included. But at some point, we have to stop expecting the state to pay for everything. My DH and I just had this very conversation today and find that the sense of entitlement seems to be growing. I'm by no way at all bashing those in genuine need, not at all and hope my answer doesn't come across that way. As a nation though, we can't afford to keep subbing and supporting everyone.

I think you are mixing up a sense of entitlement with a deep and growing need to look after people, rather than just handing £billions of public money to private companies to squander, which the government clearly think is fine because public money in private hands gets them rubbing their hands with glee.

There are parents whose circumstances changed since having DC and parents who doing their absolute best and going hungry to feed their children.

There are some, not many, parents who prioritize Sky tv over feeding their children. Do you allow children to go hungry because of their parents bad choices? I'm not happy punishing children for 'the sins of their fathers' or mothers. I'm more concern by my taxes paying for a crap track and trace system, than the pennies they take off me to feed hungry children.

@EddieVeddersfoxymop

OP, I'm with you in a way. Totally agree with free school meals through the school term- breakfast included. But at some point, we have to stop expecting the state to pay for everything. My DH and I just had this very conversation today and find that the sense of entitlement seems to be growing. I'm by no way at all bashing those in genuine need, not at all and hope my answer doesn't come across that way. As a nation though, we can't afford to keep subbing and supporting everyone.

How much would it cost to extend free school meals for a few months?

How much does it cost to subsidise the house of commons canteens?

How much does it cost to give MPs a 3k payrise?

How much has been spent on Test and Trace?

I agree absolutely, we can't afford to fund everything and everyone.

Yeah let them eat cake

As a nation though, we can't afford to keep subbing and supporting everyone.

So what is your solution? Support the 'deserving' ones and leave the others to rot?

Punish children going hungry because their parents can't or won't feed them, what a society to be living in.

Have my first

Get it out of your head that children are going hungry because of feckless parents.

Even if it is because every single hungry child has feckless parents (which, no), it takes a peculiar and twisted morality to think that because a child has feckless parents, it’s ok for the child to go hungry.

[quote Malachite234]@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone

I whole heartedly agree. If you can’t afford children don’t have them! It’s not the Goverment’s responsibility to look after your children![/quote]
So what do you suggest those people who have massive changes of circumstances after the children have been born do?

Yes the parents should be able to feed their children. But the shitshow that is 2020 has changed things massively and turns out not all parents can anymore for a whole range of reasons, money being the main one. Stop being a knob OP.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

I’d rather we pursued personal responsibility than just hand over more money. It would be better long term. Feeding a child should be a very basic parenting responsibility and the majority get child benefits already.

Children are expensive and it should be a huge decision to become a parent as the financial implications are enormous.

Perhaps holiday lunches should be held at the school, with ingredients provided and the parents taught how to cook it themselves? Then we could lose the “but some people don’t know how” excuse. They’re not in work because they’ve been made redundant by the pandemic, after all.

Maybe followed up by an hour or so of litter picking, for exercise, social responsibility and something to put on the CV?

[quote Malachite234]@HalloweenDoughnutAnyone

I whole heartedly agree. If you can’t afford children don’t have them! It’s not the Goverment’s responsibility to look after your children![/quote]
Shall we extend abortion to 18 years then? Or do you think financial security during pregnancy is a magical guarantee of 18 years of financial security?

Are you vocal about the causes of poverty? That's the way we tackle this problem in the longer term. What did you think would happen after ten years of austerity?

Are you complaining about businesses getting financial support? If they can't afford a pandemic then they shouldn't have ever had a business, right?

In exceptional circumstances, there need to be exceptional responses. Just now, there will be families who would normally manage school holidays without a free school meal, but now might not be able to without going without themselves. Should people have to choose whether they eat or feed their family.

Has anyone suggested it should be long term?

Yes parents SHOULD be able to feed their kids but for a multitude of reasons, many struggle. I therefore am happy for my taxes to be used to reduce the number of children who go to bed hungry. In fact, your post has inspired me to set up a DD to Fareshare so cheers for that!

It's not about how good the excuses are or are not. It's not about who had what before the kids came along. It's not about which adults deserve what they get or do not. It's about trying to feed the hungry kids at the bottom of the pile.

''Maybe they should have thought of that before they had kids'' Fuck the poor kids who didn't ask to be had then. Let them be hungry, their parents should have thought more ...

really? Is that how we want our society?

Can't believe somebody has used the expression 'sense of entitlement' relating to children having enough to eat.

Yes children of a rich country are entitled not to fucking starve. They should feel a sense of entitlement to ENOUGH TO EAT. Jesus fucking Christ.

This is not about meting out punishment to those you think should not have children because they dared lose their job in a global pandemic, it's about ensuring human beings in your society who have no access to work or funds themselves (i.e. children) are adequately provided for.

I don't understand why people think the tax payer should be paying even more?

Go and educate yourself then. You come across as ignorant.

Apparently a packet of fags is £11 now @MaskingForIt. Most of it’s tax so maybe we could return that money to those feckless people to feed their kids?