To ask why do people not working claiming FSM get this for free?

[Sprinkledusting]

I’ve just discovered if you claim FSM and even if you’re not working, you can send your child to morning/after school club for free. And not just in our school either.
There are also sports clubs and holiday clubs during school holidays that state they are free for those who claim FSM. To claim free school meals your income has to be so low that you’re not working full time or not working at all, which of the people I know, most are not.
But those who are working have to pay for breakfast club/holiday clubs.

Can someone explain to me the logic behind this? As I simply don’t understand it.

You do realise life happens don't you?

Why don't you work slightly less and get more UC, OP? Sounds like you are overwhelmed.

I suspect you’re wasting your time @WithACatLikeTread I guess falling ill is just a shortcoming on my part, what a shit parent I am 🙄

It pisses you off that the poorest children in our society are given some extra help? Most normal, rational, adults are not bitter that kind of thing.

Oh here we go!

No- everything has a cost and that cost has to be paid for. The money has to come from somewhere. For everything the government 'gives free' to some people- the rest of us pay for and actually pay more for because we pay for all the free stuff other people get. That's the truth of it.

We pay for all the benefits, FSM, anything given to unemployed, disabled/sick/vulnerable people, NHS treatments for people who contribute little or nothing but use a lot, free prescriptions, free school clubs, subsidised housing, PIP, cost of refugees and asylum seekers etc.

DH and I earn good salaries and pay a huge chunk in taxes NI and employment pensions. I never complain about that, ever.

You vote in a General Election based mainly on this issue- it defines you politically - are you prepared to contribute more to provide more for others? Are you prepared to pay more to provide a better society? Or do you think we provide far too much for far too many and need to rein it back significantly and make more people take responsibility for how they choose to live?

They are the most divisive issues politically. We have become a country where fewer and fewer people contribute anything and more and more expect to be handed stuff. Someone has to pay for every penny spent.

You might think the very rich should pay more and the government should spend less on some things, or that the very rich should pay less and the government should be responsible for less (privatise the NHS- hand it over to insurance companies).

Can you not even begin to have the insight that people's situations may change?

Everything fine (more than fine with enough income/earnings) and the bam!!! Life happens s and the affordability of everything is fucked due to

disability
severly disabled child
financial abuse
escape from abuse
divorce
caring for other family members
MH issues

Fucking hell, there are enough examples of the shit that can happen in life on MN....just think a little before you spout such crap.

Surely the threshold for qualifying should be AFTER benefits not before? How is it right that someone earning £8k and receiving £12k in benefits isn't entitled, but someone earning nothing and receiving £20k in benefits is entitled? The one working will have costs associated with working so is actually worse off.

They're worried the kids might go hungry otherwise and if they're at holiday clubs then people are seeing them regularly through the holidays and are more likely to notice if something is wrong.

UC is designed so the more you earn, the better off you are. So in the same circumstances, the working person would be better off than the unemployed one. If someone was getting more in benefits than someone in employment it will be because their rent is higher, or they get extra disability allowance or something.

This is the issue currently. A lot of people just above the limit, so miss out on help. There are many people really struggling with cost of living issues at the moment, who are working, but finding it really really difficult. They’re the ignored group, missed out by all political parties.

I mentioned becoming disabled suddenly when my only child was a baby on a thread the other day- apparently I should have just had income protection insurance that would cover my whole salary for 50 years…

the fact that I couldn’t have afforded the £50 a month this would have cost on top of all the other bills of life was a failing on my part to prioritise.

The fact that I had only just finished my full time 2 year MA that qualified me for a profession, but hadn’t actually started working yet is irrelevant… students should take out salary protection insurance for the salary they don’t have…

No, there aren't. You can't choose not to work.

Agree with this, we are a 6 figure household looking to buy a house and probably not have children as it would be too tight with house prices, mortgage interest, maternity and childcare. Life just seems so expensive. But I would happily pay considerably more tax if ALL children got healthy school meals free, childcare was subsidised for everyone, teachers and health professionals were better paid and young people were given far more early career options than university with the shocking fee system. Oh and of course a much more regulated rental system with local authorities buying and building. HS2 could have funded a lot of housing….. I would love to see a system where life is made easier for everyone so at least paying in feels worth it.

I actually can't believe that some people don't understand why this would make people bitter.Its the govts fault....There are millions of hardworking families where both parents work and are using food banks despite earning. No one is 'rich' and the working class (who work) get literally nothing in the way that improves their children's lives. So to see others get this benefit for 'free' who don't actually go to work while some families literally go into debt to pay the bills....it's only natural to be resentful....again that the govt fault.

This has now been extended to March 2025

It isn’t natural to resent little kids getting lunch.

I presume that it is so they can have breakfast and a snack after school plus in winter it will be warm. I don't think the clubs really provide anything else so your DC is not missing out. Children of working parents often hate the clubs and would much rather at home.

As a former FSM parent not taking up the place had nothing to do with lack of aspiration/ value on those activities.

It had everything to do with the fact that the clubs are the other side of town, 2 bus rides each way (so 8 buses for me every day). And all of the activities offered were things we either do anyway as a family, or things the dc really hated. Like a whole day of football. No thanks. Plus I actually wanted to spend time with them.

Instead we would spend the day at a museum. We're lucky that there's a couple within walking distance, or a bus/train to another town with more. Or a picnic in the park. Or an afternoon doing arts and crafts. Or baking.

That "lack of aspiration" has led to DC often saying "xyz museum has an exhibition about abc, can we go?"

Of course that's not true for everyone who declines a free space. But don't assume that's why all of us say "no thanks"

You are judging a family I know.

They are in a queue wait list to have one DC diagnosed with ADHD, another is waiting for an ASD assessment, she already has the ADHD diagnosis.

The parents are unemployable. They have grown up, almost certainly with ADHD/ASD undiagnosed and definitely unsupported. The father was out of school and placed in a unit for problem kids by the time he was 12. He is uneducated, was left to do as he pleased as a child and had grown into an adult with very low awareness and ability. He is against the 'system' as he sees them as people who interfere. The children have been removed and retuned to them but they live horrendous lives in a toxic environment where SS care only that they have a bed, food and a list of chores.

If the parents would take up the offer of extra clubs for their DC those children would stand a bit more of a chance, their lives would be that tiny bit better. As things are they just have a shitty existence with parents who go from arguing to silence and back again and treat the kids like dogs. I have never heard them have a conversation with the children. All they ever do is shout orders and complaints towards them.

But yeah, you all be jealous because something is being offered to families like this.

we don’t qualify for free school meals, however we are still really struggling and can’t afford to do lots of activities with our DS during school hols? Or pay for clubs for him.

Don't forget @Sprinkledusting , there are MASSES of things you CAN do for free eg
many museums have free entry
have a look at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/50-things
and cheap entry with a lottery ticket https://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/open-week

I was on benefits for a decade. My kids had FSM. An element of the instability is benefits themselves. They "overpay" then underpay. They take it back. They pay you on a different day. They cancel your claim. All requiring extensive and often traumatic interaction with benefits agency, landlords, utilities. You rob Peter to pay Paul while getting deeper and deeper into poverty.

Utilities move to meters you don't have the money to top up. I had a coal fire but many, many times couldn't afford coal and one of my DDs chopped up the garage doors.

You diet is the first thing to go. Lots of potatoes and cheap bread instead. Sacks of potatoes are cheap but much of the bag is bruised.

Everything his bought from catalogues and charity shops. I've had salvation army Christmas boxes.

All this "they have flashy stuff and are better off then us" crap is jealousy. Do some people manipulate the system? Yes. Do bankers manipulate their system? Do MPs?

The huge majority are doing their best to varying degrees. Don't blame the kids for getting a bagel at breakfast club so they come to school.

I was curious about this too but a poster on this thread has explained their household income is 75K and they’re still eligible to claim FSM:

Yes this is true , our household income is now £75k plus but I had previously received benefits around 7 years ago , our circumstance significantly changed but still eligible for pupil premium which our school wanted us to claim as it helps them out, I believe this will continue until my daughter finishes secondary school next year

So vulnerable DC can't be helped in a way that works because 'it's not fair'. The holiday club is only for 4 hours anyway so not suitable for being used for childcare anyway. If you want more help with childcare take issue with the government, don't punch down to vulnerable DC.