Can we all take a moment to pray for Thea, living life on the brink of poverty at £6k a month (£3.2k of which is UC).

[BananaramaDefence]

In a good month when UC gives full entitlement, Thea has a total of £6,142.00, from £2,800 in take-home pay and £3,342 in universal credit plus child benefit. Her monthly expenses such as childcare, rent, council tax, energy and food etc are usually around £6000. She says: "So it’s living very much on the edge."

And now the cap is removed she will get more!!

From this: Pregnant mum-of-four: 'Budget benefit change saved our Christmas' - The Mirror https://share.google/QGbNeuIKPAmg1qNG5

No wonder people get pissed of with welfare in this country. I work 40 hours plus a week, have children, have to pay a mortgage, childcare and I earn way less than this!!!

No child should live in poverty but at the same time no family should get this muxh in benefits.

Before people say, yes but it's to pay rent and collate, I also have to pay all that and my mortgage is half my wage!!

What’s 1% of the world’s and which country’s welfare spending? 🤔

Did David Cameron need DLA?

That’s exactly what they do. I teach a cohort with high deprivation. I actually wish it was a cliche. Similar circumstances to another teacher who has posted. No shortage of drugs, booze, fillers and tattoos. Children come to school hungry, unwashed, with inadequate clothing and provision. That’s when parents can be bothered to get them to school. Heck, they are even too lazy to get them to the free breakfast club. It’s the daily reality I see every morning. More money will just mean more substance abuse for many households I work with.

I know it’s awkward for the left to acknowledge this. Throwing more money at a situation is a nice little tick box exercise to make people feel virtuous. Academically, children will be out of poverty. What good eggs Labour are. Realistically, if they really cared, they’d divert the money to community services. These children will still suffer and no-one will care because it’s all been sorted on paper. It makes me very cross that these children will still suffer and be forgotten.

Do you report the parents to social services?

Unfortunately you are correct. I’ve also seen that. It’s beyond tragic. I’m assuming you’ve alerted your social
services colleagues to flag this obvious neglect? I’ve seen other examples where parents are wonderful people but absolutely squeezed so can only afford the cheapest shoes and not great food and the heating is rarely on but the kids are loved and they come first and money goes on them first all the time. Those families are also real.

Every, single, day. As anyone actually working with real deprivation and neglect will tell you - nothing is done. Social services are so overwhelmed and stretched nothing will be done. You’d be horrified to really know just how serious it had to be nowadays to meet threshold. I mean horrified. Every single day it feels like a “lessons will be learned” moment is inevitable. These children suffer because their parents can’t be bothered, social won’t help. Their only safe space is school. It actually sickens me that the govt think giving these parents more money will help. Will probably put them at more risk.

When I worked my whole career was in Education and SS did take us seriously. Maybe it's an area thing?

No. It’s an underfunded social services thing. It’s also that this widespread neglect in deprived areas is too common for the social services to deal with. It’s an awkward truth people don’t want to admit. If we chuck some money at the situation we can all pretend this isn’t happening and feel good about ourselves.

I completely admire teachers. But I can assure you that in my country, if a child is flagged to SW, then they take it seriously. It could just be offering parenting classes, temporary care with family etc., but they always respond.

No. It's not hard. People who are unable to support themselves should be given welfare.

DLA and PIP should be given when the people have no resources to support themselves.

The current benefits system is akin to giving people compensation paid for by the taxpayer for having a disability and it shouldn't be that way.

Millionaires or even comfortably off people shouldn't be receiving welfare benefits paid for by the taxpayer.

It's ridiculous that the situation has arisen where it's not the case. You should be in need, not 'entitled'.

But anyway everyone who has been helped by lifting the child element of UC cap isn't a neglectful parent and it's awful to paint them all that way. Children get neglected in wealthy families too and they are often ignored because their families are "respected" which really means "well off".

Well he applied for it and got it as he was entitled to it. Just pointing out that everyone who gets DLA or PIP isn't poor or "feckless" as people on here like to describe them.

For the record, I took early retirement two years ago,

I am "entitled" to contributions based JSA. There is no way on this planet I am putting myself through the hoops JSA claimants have to for the piddling amount they receive.

Not all people who are "entitled" claim.

Like I say, these communities of deprivation are well hidden. People don’t want to admit that their do-gooding is just showboating. Like I say, I can assure you: people working with real deprivation are seeing the neglect that is going on first hand. Offering non statutory parenting advice does not help these children. The parents don’t show up. The neglect still continues. I can assure you, hidden pockets of deprivation are real. They are a serious issue. Serious, because they are often hidden behind more affluent communities. The do-gooders think chucking money at the issue and a few tins of beans - the problem has gone. Nothing to see here, deny, deny, deny. The children still suffer.

All areas of the UK that are deprived are documented publicly.

I think the one "showboating" is you frankly.

It also reads like you think you're better than SW staff. You're not.

Children will be neglected in that "affluent" community btw. Emotionally neglected and abused while being ignored by judgmental school staff because they have a nice haircut and expensive footwear.

She is working full time!

This is what I mean, the left really can’t handle the fact that being virtuous does not equal helping children. Actually addressing the issue requires work. Just chucking money at the issue and ticking a box is much easier to make people feel good about themselves. I will call it out because I see it every day.

Then the left have to get personal; judgemental school staff. Can’t understand that not everything is as simple as you want it to be. So lash out.

I know what I see and I know the hypocrisy of Labour and others saying they are solving the problem. They are not. Neglect happens everywhere. This is a thread about how chucking more welfare money around to “help.”

Why are you calling me "left". You have no idea who I am. What is it you teach btw because it certainly isn't anything that requires critical thinking.

Do keep going. You’re proving my point. Faced with awkward truths, let’s start personally attacking. Carry on. You’ve shown your hand and I have no more to say to you.

It wasn't a personal attack and you haven't posted truths, you've posted your opinion. Btw, we don't have "welfare" in the UK, we have benefits.

I don't think you even live in the UK.

I hadn't realised but it still stands that she shouldn't need to be topped up to that level. Whoever is working these figures out needs to research properly.
Over 30 years ago my sister applied to claim benefits and she was far better off not working but she carried on working until she realised just how much better off she was on benefits so stopped working.
The system is completely skewed the wrong way.

I don't think anyone has claimed otherwise.

But that poster was 100% correct in what they said about lifting the 2 child benefit cap not being a solution for many families because in their experience, lack of money isn't the problem, it's feckless parents who have always existed and always will and giving them more money isn't the solution and in fact likely to make the problem worse for many children.

MN often seems to have this rose-tinted idea about certain sectors of society being victims of society and money being the solution. It rarely is.

Yeah you did. Maybe I should start a bingo sheet. Now I don’t even live here. So I am a bot now.

Personal attacks ✅
Accusations of being a bot ✅

MN 2024 called and they want their bingo sheet back. How very left. Have a lovely afternoon.

If parents choose not to abort an unplanned pregnancy that they cannot afford, then they have to bear the consequences. It’s very selfish to bring a human being into the world without the resources to look after them, especially not 3 or more!

Why should others restrict the number of children they have and then have to pay for others’ children too in the form of higher taxes?

This only encourages more parents to have more babies than they can afford…! Labour are incentivising the wrong behaviour.

You are not really responding to any other views in a constructive or critical manner imo.

I worked with them. Nothing to do with mumsnet.