Single mums should be offered a free flu jab?

[Journeyintomelody]

This is off the back of a very hard week. I picked up a nasty dose of flu, probably from a baby group. I have a super high pain threshold but when I have a cold I'm utterly useless. I need two or three days to hibernate and recover.

Last week I discovered that you can't do this as a single mum. DD (7.5 months) needed me. So I had to plough on, and it was hard. It's been over a week and I still haven't shaken it off completely, but now DD has it (it's breaking my heart to see her unwell). She has been dosed up with Calpol but is very unsettled. Between the two of us, it is probably going to write off nearly 3 weeks.

AIBU to think that single parents should be offered free flu jabs?

I'm a single mum and no I don't think we should be given free flu jabs.

My personal view is that single mums should be offered not only a free flu jab, but much better financial support, heavily subsidized breakfast and afterschool club, free occasional weekend babysitting and a yearly spa trip. Together with a medal that says "Well done, you're the one who stuck around".

I suspect if you delved into many relationships though, you'd find a lot of shit fathers and mothers doing more than their fair share, but that doesn't mean single mums shouldn't get more help than they currently do.

Not comparable imo. There's a second salary/second responsible parent, even if they're not around day-to-day. The family have chosen to organise their lives with the second parent doing this.

The flu is very dangerous for the unborn baby. NHS website states its known to potentially cause defects and stillbirth. I'd imagine it's free to encourage women to get it and obviously less crowding in hospitals with serious complications

Copied this from NHS

If you have flu while you're pregnant, it could cause your baby to be born prematurely or have a low birthweight, and may even lead to stillbirth or death.

If you have lupus, are you not offered a free flu jab? Sympathy though, being ill with an unwell little one is really tough. I’d definitely get one next time even if it’s at a pharmacy, they usually cost about a tenner.

Cant you just pay for it? it's not expensive and you'll be making a valid contribution towards the cost of the vaccination that way.

As a preventative measure?

Someone referred to the wheels "falling off". People on low incomes often don't have savings to cover unpaid leave, may have limited financial support, work inflexible jobs with poor sick pay and employee benefits, can't afford medicines, extra heating or nutritious food, rely on cold, draughty public transport to take their kids to school and get to the doctor.

Illness hits poor people harder. They're more likely to get sick to begin with and less likely to be able to afford the associated costs.

You can't know you had flu unless you've been swabbed. Lots of viruses can make us feel miserable, and yes it's extra though with little ones because there's no sick days unfortunately.

Older people, pregnant women and vulnerable people get the flu jab on the NHS because they're at much higher risk of serious complications and even death. The flu can be a literal killer. Likewise little kids are vulnerable and kids in general are super spreaders so vaccinating them protects everyone. Carers get it because society depends on their unpaid and underpaid labour.

It's flu vaccine season now, I have mine at the GP next week, so if you can spare the £ you're in perfect time to get it for this year.

Your baby is just 7.5 months old, was the father not around already to assist? Or family member that you can call upon in an emergency.

Getting a flu jab only helps protect you from one particular strain of flu each year, it doesn't stop you from getting bad colds, other strains of flu or other viruses.

The jab is given to those at highest risk of hospitalisation to take the strain off the nhs during winter months not for convenience.

Yep, just about sums it up.

Plentry of people would benefit from a free flu jab. As previous posters have noted, non-means yested benefits mean that there will always be those who don't need a free 'thing', but trying to means-test it would be twice as costly as 'letting' those who can afford it have it free
Then you would have to define a 'single' parent, because that isn't clear

To be fair, carers are offered the vaccine. Someone who is the main carer for someone who may be put at risk if the carer becomes ill and is unable to care for them will get the vaccine.

Im not saying I agree with the OP, but it's hard to argue the sole carer of a 6 month old, for example, doesn't meet that definition.

Was it definitely flu you had, or just a bad cold? With flu you literally can't get out of bed. Sympathy either way though, it's tough being poorly and still needing to look after your children.

Superdrug have it for under £10 if you have a health and beauty card. ASDA it is £13.

£13 is £1.10 per month for a year.

Ask your rheumatologist if you can have it on the grounds of lupus. If you're on any medication for it that could cause any immunosuppression you should be able to get one on the NHS.

I think they should be offered a free vaccine. It’s pretty impossible to care for a young child when you have flu. People always say single mums need to build a support network etc but getting someone to look after your child for 4 or more days/nights when people have work and other commitments is quite a big ask.

It would be fairly easy to identify single mums who receive universal credit and if they’re sending a letter in October about the warm homes discount they could just add in a flu voucher.

Could you save £2 a month ready for next year?

As someone else said, there are also Moms in relationships where the men are useless so would still have to struggle and women in financially abusive relationships where they don't have access to money.

How do you know it was flu OP? Unless you had a test to confirm it, you don't, however bad you felt. As you say, you react very badly to colds and need a few days in bed. There are some awful colds around atm, plus Covid. It's pretty early in the winter for flu to be circulating, so chances are it was either a cold or Covid, both of which most certainly are circulating.

But again what about Moms that are in marriages or relationships with lazy or abusive partners that don't help or refuse them access to money?

You can self-ID as a carer on forms. I don't actually see much difference between being a carer for say an elderly person or a baby - they both take all your time and energy.

No need to go to the lowest common denominator - "we can't help everyone so let's help no one".

In two-parent families, it may be that there is only one effective parent caring for the kids. In single-parent families, it definitely is.

That’s not why carers receive a flu vaccine. It’s so they are less likely to pass on flu to the person they are caring for.

Flu vaccination for a pregnant woman will protect her infant until up to 6 months old, at which point vulnerable 6+ month olds can also receive a free jab.

40% of people on UC are in work so if they are earning a wage and getting topped up why can’t they pay? Unfortunately people do choose benefits over working more hours because of the cost of childcare and other reasons also. I spoke with someone last month and they were applying for another job but couldn’t or wouldn’t go for it in the end because it was a few more hours and she would not be entitled to as much UC, now she could of made that loss of money up by more hours but chose not to. I’m not saying everyone does that but I bet a high percentage of people on UC do factor that in with their working hours

Lots of places of work allow you to get it and claim it back. Worth finding out if your work offers it.