To believe that providing free meals for children

[Completelyfrozen]

Is not enough!
I hear people saying that children shouldn't go hungry and I wholeheartedly agree. It is a travesty in 2020 that any child goes hungry, regardless of the reason behind it, but is that where our responsibility as a society ends?
I want to live in a society where children are provided with a hot meal every day.
A warm dry bed to sleep in at night.
Warm clean dry clothes.
Facilities to wash and brush their teeth.
Warm dry shoes.
An adequate education.
Opportunities to play and socialise.
A safe environment to grow up in.
A home free from damp or mould.
I want to live in a society where adults have access to hot water and washing facilities so they can keep themselves and their children clean.
What can we do, as a nation to address these issues so that children have their most basic requirements met?
YABU - Providing one hot meal per day is enough and parents should provide the rest, despite their circumstances. It is not the govts responsibility to provide anything more.
YANBU - Providing one free meal a day is just the start but as a society, we need to do much much more to ensure children are provided these basic needs and if the parents cannot provide these basic items for any reason, then the govt has a responsibility to step in and provide them.

Knowing that I can’t provide a child many of the things on your list is part of the reason I don’t have one

@CiderJolly oh come on! You said the cap was £1,666 - I’m telling you the amount that I got on the calculator was £1750.

Am I including council tax discount as money coming in? Well yes when the net effect on disposable income after bills is the same .

It’s you that’s being wilfully ignorant and misleading when you told me my calculations were wrong and I’ve provided evidence to the contrary.

Ok if it makes you feel better - cash in the persons hand £1,666, council tax discount £80 - net effect the same

And FWIW I’m not saying that £750 per month, or £650 if the bills are very high, is living in the lap of luxury, but it is enough to feed and clothe two children at at least a basic level.

@BooFuckingHoo2 the first amount shown in your picture (benefit entitlement) is how much you are entitled to before they apply the cap.
The second amount shown (£1515) is how much you would actually get.
Entitledto is inaccurate with their council tax support figures too. I get less than half what entitledto said I would.

Your ‘evidence is’ from entitled to, it’s a good website but it does tell you that it doesn’t guarantee entitlement- it’s just an indication.

If you won’t believe that a benefit cap exists even though it’s on gov.uk then I’m wasting my time engaging with you.

Quote Completelyfrozen An ideal situation but unfortunately many people are not prepare to pay for other people’s children’s. Therefore, is expected for the parents to take responsibility.

Children should not suffer because of their parents situation. But adults shouldn't use their ability to get pregnant as a means to financially benefit.
The parents shouldn't benefit from resources paid for by taxpayers to protect their children.

@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander sorry but that’s not correct.

The amount is made up of:

£1,515 universal credit
£79 council tax discount
£150 child benefit

= £1,745

I’m really quite shocked at the people arguing so vehemently about the benefits system seem to know so little about it .

My father was very badly paid on very long hours as a farmer . We never had new clothes , only went to jumbles . My mother worked in a supermarket to top up wages and I had to cook dinner when I came in. The money each week used to go in tobacco tins on a shelf for bills so they knew exactly what the had left , if anything. My mother always cooked from scratch the same meals every week . And portions were a lot smaller than now . No new school uniform . Only shoes. No classes after school either . And the house was cold . But I had a brilliant loving childhood and made a succcess of my life . I learnt budgeting and cooking and making do and I appreciate everything I have now . Especially holidays as they did not happen much at all . Not much help around in those days at all .

@CiderJolly it doesn’t guarantee entitlement but if you fill it in correctly it’s a very strong indicator.

I never said I don’t believe a benefit cap exists? I was pointing out it doesn’t apply to all benefits.

But you carry on being “wilfully ignorant”

Children should never go hungry. MPs get their food subsidised in the Commons and can claim fortune in “expenses”. Why???

@BooFuckingHoo2 I'm a single parent of 2 currently on UC as too unwell to work and waiting to hear back about disability benefits.
So I know exactly how much a single parent of 2 is entitled to. Funny how people claiming its enough to live on arent living on it

Where do people get that you can not possibly be in food poverty of you are on benefits and it must be down to mismanagement of money.

Having worked at the CAB and then with people who live in poverty (because that's exactly what it is), it can be as simple as:

-living in a draughty home and having to top up your meters excessively.

• having to pay bedroom tax

• bus fares can be crippling

• uniforms and clothes etc

• the fridge packs in, what do you do? Get a budgeting loan. Now you have less money per month.

• tax credits decides you've been overpaid. Now you get less money.

Not all single parents get help. Not all live in accessible areas, close to shops or can afford online shopping. Buses can cost £7 per trip.. Pre payment meters charge a premium, poor housing costs more to heat.. Try doing that on benefits. Don't judge until you know the facts.

Parents have the responsibility to feed their children. Child benefit is enough to feed the children. If parents choose not to use that money for food for their children what can government do? Take the child into care? Earlier poster checked benefits calculator and found a single parent with 2 kids renting a 3 bed house for £750 pcm can get £1750 per month. After rent that is £1k just given to them every month. That money should be enough to feed their children along with child benefit. Too many parents can't budget and waste money on tattoos and cigarettes.

Vouchers covering the cost of FSM will not ensure every child has a hot meal in half term next week. It will help some children, it's better than nothing. But realistically hose kids who don't get a meal cooked at home normally have no chance of it happening in half term either.

It would be better if there was a way of actually feeding these children, or ensuring the vouchers were only spent on specific food. But then you'll get bleeding hearts complaining about how that's demeaning etc

As for energy bills, mine are £150 a month for gas and electric. 4 adults, 5 bed house. A few years back I lived in a big 3 bed house with a card meter. That was £50 electric and £30 gas a month. In a smaller house I'd think they would be even less.

So how much is enough to live on?

I accept that maybe it isn’t enough, but what would you say is enough?

@BooFuckingHoo2 I work for Universal Credit, I know the system, I know what a benefit cap is and I know that gov.uk is a more reliable source of information than a website which itself tells you it’s providing an indication not a guarantee of entitlement.

Child benefit is awarded but if, when added to UC award, it exceeds the benefit cap, then that amount is deducted from UC.

Entitled To probably shows a figure before deductions are made. You lack knowledge but for some reason this doesn’t stop you spouting out figures of which you clearly know nothing.

I agree it would be really good if kids could go to school or community centre to be fed a hot meal every day. I heard on radio this evening that some restraunts are going to feed kids over half term. They did not say where though just a.number had come forward.

Why don't the government stop giving child benefit to parents and use the money to pay for meals each day for every child throughout their time in education? They could also provide take away lunches during the holiday. At least then they are provided with at least one decent meal a day!

As I split out above £1,516 + £150 = £1,666

Can you really not work that one out? I hope you don’t work in the calculation department

Entitled to doesn’t “probably” show anything. It shows UC of £1,515 and CB of £150 plus CTB of £79, which (excluding the CTB which is considered separately) falls in line with the cap YOU keep talking about.

Why are you so determined to disagree with me? I’m here to learn from people who are saying that £750/650 is not enough to live off after bills and what they think the amount should be, not to argue the toss with someone who’s determined to prove me wrong

YABU OP

If people expect to heat houses to 20+ then it's not surprising their energy bills are too high. When I had a card meter, I would set myself a budget of £X per week. If after 2 days we were over halfway through it, then the heating would be turned down or I'd adjust the timer, and we'd all put on socks and jumpers.

It’s an awful situation to be in and I count my lucky stars that My kids are not in poverty, some of thier friends are though. It’s the kids that are caught up in volatile households that concern me, knowing that they probably wouldn’t even benefit from the free school meals voucher/money because thier parents have no intention of using it for them. I’d hate to be in thier situation and I’m lucky enough that I’ve never been hungry. Even when we were little we didn’t have much money but mum and dad always made sure we had food to eat. It’s a sad state of affairs when the government reject a proposal to feed our kids but happily except a pay rise.

@wewillmeetagain take more money away from the poorest you mean? How could that possibly be a good idea?