Do you know of any families that do not have wifi?

[MattWanksock]

A colleague said today that the school her DC go to rang to ask if they had wifi at home and were able to homeschool for the foreseeable. I do not believe it to be a disadvantaged area but I have no idea as I don't work where I live.

At first I was surprised and a little upset for the children of the school that this question needs to be asked. Having spoken to DP he says I mustn't understand how privileged we are to not have been asked that question. I should also feel bad about such an assumption. It was also mentioned at the 5pm briefing that it would cost £100 in data on pay as you go to get complete a day of zoom and educational websites.

The school our DC attend just assumed we would have a device to do 1000 zoom calls a day which I do think was a bit off.

So... do you know any household with children 0-18 that does not have wifi? AIBU to think you would be hard pressed to find a house that didn't have wifi due to the way the world is now.

Also, to add, we don't have mobile phone reception ( live in a NotSpot) so using data as an alternative is not an option for us).

I was one of those without it. I also used to go without gas for several days and sometimes electricity. This was when I was a single parent but before I was taken off income support and put on disability benefits, I could have a very basic package at that point. It was really sad. I hope to never be back in that situation again.

Not in the UK but I didn't have WiFi until just over 2 years ago when I started working. I also only bought a laptop for my older son who started high school last year because he got in to a specialist program where it was a requirement.

Lots of people in my area don't have it. We are in a good area covid wise so the schools were only closed for a few weeks. The teachers at my sons primary school made up work packs and had a printing day at school because they knew that the majority of families dont have computers or printers either.

I am relieved that the schools were not closed longer around here because so many of the kids are already struggling and I feel horrible for the people going with out.

Also, to add, we don't have mobile phone reception ( live in a NotSpot) so using data as an alternative is not an option for us).

We can't get a mobile phone signal. No service. We can get 4G data though.

Nobody is paying £100 a day on PAYG for data access via mobile so their kids can use zoom, and if they are, then frankly they're idiots. I knew that was sensationalist hyperbole when I heard it during the briefing.

We dont have Sky/TV bundle though which I think most people have.

I think most people do not have Sky/TV bundle

Yes, one of my daughter's friends, year 9

I also know many without enough suitable devices to work on.

Only 10 million households in the UK have some kind of TV bundle package and of those 10, only 2 million have a combined TV bundle and WiFi package so I can assure you most households do not have a TV bundle and the myth of people on benefits with large screen TVs and Sky packages is most likely false. Benefits hardly cover rent, bills and food, I doubt anyone in that position is so keen on Sky they will go without a meal in the evening

www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2020/08/survey-claims-uk-homes-losing-interest-in-broadband-and-tv-bundles.html

@Biker47

Nobody is paying £100 a day on PAYG for data access via mobile so their kids can use zoom, and if they are, then frankly they're idiots. I knew that was sensationalist hyperbole when I heard it during the briefing.

I don't think the poster said people are paying £100 a day to access online learning but that with limited data plans (£10 for 2 gigs of data a month on a mobile plan)it would COST £100 a day to access online learning. The inference thereby being that the children are therefore not accessing online learning as it is too expensive.

If someone is paying £10 a month for their ONLY Internet access on a smartphone because they can't afford WiFi, I sincerely doubt they can afford £100 a day.

My kids go to school in fairly well off area. We are not well off. Caught in poverty trap. You have pay as you go when you can't get a contract. You can't get a contract if you have bad credit, this includes not paying something on time ie a couple of days late (I know because this very thing happened to us last month). Everything is more expensive when you're poor even gas and electricity but that's another story.
We struggled 1st lockdown as the 4 kids had access to 1 device for only a couple of hours a day (shared between them) as DP needed it for work.
There are plenty of children out there hidden away, with issues surrounding internet/device access.
And all the parents of my kids' friends have absolutely no idea we are in this situation, it's not something to shout about. We feel quite ashamed of it.

There is a difference though in not having WiFi because you live in a not spot area and not having WiFi because you can’t afford it.
I hope a charity is set up after this for free WiFi for those who need it and can’t afford it, it must be tremendously isolating for those kids missing out. Like it or not, it is the way they communicate now days and they WILL be left behind without it.

I genuinely had no idea there were people that couldn't afford broadband nowadays. I know that probably sounds ignorant but it's so necessary nowadays that I put it in the same essential bracket as food and electricity

I'm not rich at all, we have a combined income of £33K but it just never occurred to me, clearly I need to pull my head out of my arse

@Mumsn0t

Sorry you feel ashamed. I think the denial of poverty from those better off makes it harder to speak up. My family was in your position in the not-too-distant past. We also didn't tell people, and when we did people pretended we were not really that poor, or offered patronising advice which basically implied we were stupid.

I'm so glad Marcus Rashford is speaking up on poverty issues generally - but he is making many people angry by making the issue more visible.

There are none so blind as those who will not see! If I hear anyone denying poverty at meetings at school etc. I deliberately, loudly and publicly tell them they are wrong.

During the first lockdown, about half the students in my dissertation study group stayed in university accommodation because they didn't have access to wifi at home.

@polkadotpixie

There are many people who can't afford food and electricity, even though they are essentials.

Estimates were an additional 670,000 people would become destitute in the run up to Christmas 2020.

The definition of destitute is: Lacking resources or the means of subsistence; completely impoverished.

Food bank use is through the roof, poverty is through the roof. Child poverty is increasing.

Quite apart from the fact that I know people who can’t afford it.

If you live in a rural area, it is very very common not to be able to have internet at home because you’re too far from the exchange.

Couple that with dodgy 3G/4G signal in lots of rural areas and it’s a real issue.

There are very many rural areas like this.

I’m astounded people don’t know this.

I was living in one of the ten most deprived neighbourhoods in the country and I only met one family that had no Internet despite having two school age kids.

They always were running out of electric, had basically no clothes or shoes for their kids unless people would give them some....

but never running out of cider and weed.

I'm on benefits as a single mum and I have a wide-screen TV... very wide... 70"
But it cost £400! A lot less than you'd think upon seeing it, and I paid for it over four months, which I was able to do because I don't drink, go out or have basically any treats like using a babysitter. I had a very frugal four months and watching a movie on it really helps me feel like I had a proper break without having to be away from my kids.

@ProfessorSillyStuff

for a very boring rehash of every cliche under the sun. Yawn yawn.

Even if one family is wasting money, that is not the reason for poverty in most families.

@inquietant that's kinda my point, I get very sick of being bunched in with people like that based on something like a TV!

[quote ProfessorSillyStuff]@inquietant that's kinda my point, I get very sick of being bunched in with people like that based on something like a TV![/quote]
But you are saying that the people you know who can't afford things are wasteful, whilst you are virtuous.

Your situation is that you are not in poverty?

Lots of people genuinely can't afford food, it isn't because they waste their money.

Housing costs, medical needs, number of children, regularity of work could all vary.

@ProfessorSillyStuff but you can GET WiFi.

Some of my friends can’t. Because they are too far from the exchange.

And they’re in a phone dead spot.

All the money in the world won’t magic up internet access for them.

Well, satellite WiFi at £££ a month is available but that’s out of reach for many many families.

I found out yesterday my daughters friend doesn’t have Wi-fi or a laptop I was so surprised but it’s made me feel bad I assumed everyone had these things. The school dropped off a laptop with dongle to them last night.

We didn't have wifi when we lived in the UK (emigrated last year). Also didn't have heating, and could only afford reduced food. It wasn't really a problem until lockdown: suddenly libraries were closed and their routers turned off, and you couldn't loiter in supermarkets (either for wifi or yellow sticker reductions) because of various Covid regulations. During the first lockdown, we would use the wifi at my parents' house while sitting in the back garden, which I think wasn't strictly allowed but was at least discreet and socially distanced. Some people don't even have this limited amount of support from their families. It must be impossible to jump through the hoops set up by head teachers on six figure salaries who think everyone can download all the latest apps and sit on Zoom all day.