To think the level of state involvement many posters expect is bonkers?

[FaeryRing]

It seems like there is nothing the state shouldn’t be responsible for any more! Feeding your kids, getting them to school, hiring ‘behaviour specialists’ for every classroom because parents don’t want to discipline their own children, giving you money towards virtually anything you ask for because it’s not fair you have to pay for anything yourself.. I find it absolutely wild and don’t think it’s at all realistic or representative of what most adults believe?

Not really, if the child saw a dentist, the parent could be educated on brushing, diet etc
Not all would take this advice but plenty would.

At least if the child is able to brush their teeth at the planned breakfast clubs, then that child may go on not to repeat the same mistakes their parents have made.

I'm not sure I've seen any one of the major parties actually speak directly about the declining birth rate?

With the exception of Miriam Cates but I'm not sure it got any traction in the broader party, and certainly not with a vie to policy making? I'd like to be wrong through.

But fortunately you didn't have to foot the bill on the repair

Well said. Prevention is better than cure/treatment!

Given the deliberate policy of having immigration around 700k per year, why is a falling birth rate a concern to the Government?

Perhaps people unable to parent wouldn't be parents if they weren't told you should only get housing if you have kids. I have DC but think it's disgusting to suggest 'punishing' people without children.

@JenniferBooth People can't win! Told not to have kids then told they should've.

Childless and childfree people pay tax too, and use less public services than people with DC (schools, maternity care, NHS treatment for kids).

This thread is full of contractionary expectations of people. Not just about housing.

If people want less state dependancy, need to look at the wider picture. Good public services including affordable housing (for all households including childfree and older people), supportive benefits system that includes compassion for the disabled, improved CMS enforcement, recognition of the important contribution made by carers, and education, work and training opportunities.

People then get the help and support they need, so don't end up in worse situations needing more and longer term state dependancy.

err thats Labours current policy which posters seem to be up in arms about.

It’s literally the exact point of this thread. It’s easier to blame lack of dentists than to accept parents are not doing what they are supposed to be! Government must be to blame that the children have rotting teeth, not the parents.

yes, lack of available dentists is an issue. That doesn’t just excuse parents from doing anything themselves/trying to force teachers to.

Are we really supposed to believe parents don’t know they should be brushing their children’s teeth 2 x a day? Really?

do they not have access to the nhs website?

it’s amazing that someone would need a handhold through that, rather than realising they brush their own teeth and then doing some 30 second research.

I can’t even begin to express how insane it is that you think teachers need to take responsibility for shit parents.

@Giraffesandbottoms Yes plenty of people have no clue or don't care, have MH issues, addictions, can't read, never heard of the nhs website and had shite parents themselves.

An eye opener for me was doing some work for a social enterprise charity, many people in this country live extremely chaotic lives.

Do we try and alter the lives of their children or do we stand by and do nothing?

If you’re at the stage of neglecting basic care then I think even visiting to the dentist might be an issue

Its not a repair. Its a change in health and safety rules. And while we are talking about the state i have saved the state plenty of money in the last eight years by buying my own esomaprazole and since 2021 my own mini pill due to being unable to access healthcare because our GP surgery is so useless. (im currently in the middle of changing to another surgery) so not only have i not had children Ive paid for my own bloody contraception as well. But no all that matters is that i live in social housing so cant complain. PFFT. Anyone on here good at maths? Ive spent £12 a fortnight on Nexium since 2015 and £19.75 every three months on Hana since October 2021

What makes you think in 50 years time, when the population of elderly people in this country places an enormous burden on the tax payer, that migrants will choose to come here to work and raise their families, rather than say, every other country which is facing the exact same problem?

It would be interesting to see the government have a clear discussion about the long term, or something that extends beyond 5 years, don't you?

THIS X a thousand

Sorry i was being facetious!

Of course they should but from recent announcements it seems we should have LESS children, not more.

Right, okay, sorry. I missed that, I almost launched into my 'robots won't save us' rant, as well. 😁

I didn't.

But i do think in the case of inadequate parents, the state, if only for pure cost benefits, should help.

A child with rotting teeth will have poor attendance, will leave school with poor job opportunities, will be a burden on the NHS and our benefits system

Yes my daughter had to have 4 teeth extracted when aged 8 as she had no enamel on them as seemingly I had an infection when pregnant. She has absolutely beautiful white and fully aligned teeth as an adult. No fillings in them and due to the extractions no overcrowding etc The odd thing was that her teeth was checked the year before with no issues. All really strange. Anyhow she is a stunner so no issues and has teeth anyone would be proud of. Not a single filling and beautifully aligned at aged 22.

My son never even had a filling despite being SEN. … he had to have the stuff brushed on once.

They had a really healthy diet, drank only water and no fizzy drinks or apple juice etc

Add to that as I recall soemone running a care home in the 1970 with people in their 70’s there and they were classed as really old. Now we are expected to be jogging and swimming at aged 70 and the age of people in care homes are in their late 80 or 90 even over 100. Their ‘kids’ are in their 60 or 70 when in the 1970 they were being supported. Greater life expectancy has created quite a care role for people themselves in retirement and not necessarily in good health.

More pertinent is what is the point of life when hugely frail in your twilight years and with serious ailments?

We keep people alive unnecessarily for whose benefit other than big pharma or care homes

But can you not see that this is not going to be the case for 90% of parents with children with poor teeth? It’s not a personal
attack on you as it doesn’t apply to you, or to @MistressoftheDarkSide. I actually
understand as I was on antibiotics for DC3 during pregnancy for uti too and his teeth are chalky. I get it.

but the majority of people are not in this situation.

I completely agree but there must be a workaround that doesn’t include 1) rewarding the lazy arseholes having these children and 2) overburdening teachers

Prevention starts at home with parents ensuring their kid's teeth are brushed regularly and parents being careful about the food/drink they're giving their kids.

By the time dentists are involved, the damage has been done and they're needed to repair the damage via extractions, fillings, etc.

And a lot of today's parents would have grown up at a time when schools were giving regular tooth brushing advice and access to NHS dentistry was easier. Doesn't seem to have worked does it when we look at the apparent number of today's parents who can't look after their own children's teeth!