To wonder what else can be done to break the cycle of generations living off benefits?

[Allonthesametrain]

Sounds harsh because It is. As a former teacher, then eduation social worker, now the past few years more heavily involved with school attendance.

My desire has always been to help children from unprivileged backgrounds to know their worth and achieve the best they can and this has been my career from age 23 to 57.

The number of times I've cried, torn my hair out, is immeasurable. I and colleagues have gone above and beyond to support the families, genuinely care about them, but unfortunately the outcome has been, as I've said in title, it's a continiation of the cycle of being brought up within a small community and low expectations.

So many gorgeous kids (supported throughout their young lives until they leave school) who tell you their dreams of what they want to to achieve in life, we do everything we can to enable it and some have indeed broken out of the circle but unfortunately the reality has been...

Parents who live lifestyles of no bedtime routine, tell their kids not to come back before ...pm, sleep in and don't get them out of bed ready and fed for school and as for weekends, pub and take back a new bloke

Parents who have issues themselves and project them onto DC. The kids soon realise they can stay off school for feigning illness and would actually be a comfort to Mum

The parents who just cba and say shall we just still in bed?

Of course there are so many other mitigating factors but these are the 3 main experiences we've dealt with. Unfortunately it really does come down to poor parenting and no matter what interventions we do to encourage attendance, only a minority are genuine.

So the cycle...DC think education isn't important, parents are hopeless role models and can often be aggressive to teachers, a deflection of blame.

Then oh DD gets pregnant at age 15, DS has been reprimanded by the police for scooting around in a balaclava. Then pure hostility when we try to continue to talk to them and what could be done to help.

Basically it's just such a shame, these sweet young kids who say they want to be ... become so influenced by their homelife, a need to fit in with their family and peers from the same estate, that they ignore the support we give them, don't turn up to appointments etc.

For the genuine cases, DC with SEN, the effort to try and ensure they are in best place is utmost and it's heartbreaking there aren't enough of them. Yes, we do know genuine cases and not just so many parents striving for a diagnosis because they feed DC a terrible diet and let them stay up late so are tired and irritable at school.

Expecting some backlash, whatever anyone says I can reason with.

The fact that securing any kind of living accommodation nowadays requires a deposit, which has to be saved for, is being conveniently glossed over too... apparently we can all move hither and thither at the drop of a hat. Who knew?

My parents were in their council house for over 40 years. Years back, council housing was more plentiful and the criteria was nowhere near as strict. Those same people have stayed put in their secure housing, and why wouldn't they?
Private renting (paying someone else's mortgage whilst never being able to afford t save for your own) is not something to aspire to.

Yep, and the fact there is a huge shortage of rental properties. Loads of people were served Sec21 last month because of the new renter's rights bill.
The competition for rental property is huge. People not in the thick of having to look for a job/a rental place, have no clue at all how bad things are out there.
It is very easy to call people lazy etc from the comfort of your home office.

Literally all your posts are ‘why can’t I have everything for free? Why do you want me to suffer? Why can’t other people just pay more taxes? Why can’t I have everything as a human right? Why should other people get to keep their money and not share it with me?’ And so on.

Someone else has just mentioned it but I was stalked for 15 months. Threats to my life. That's why I had to give up work (zero hours job). Because I wasn't well enough to continue. I had a breakdown. I have a ptsd diagnosis and I suffer from anxiety and depression. I was just getting back on my feet when I was offered a job. Then I smashed my leg. I'm not sure what your issue is. I'm no longer on lwcra as of this month.

I have just finished an online degree and I have had two offers of volunteering work which will hopefully help me into employment again

I actually don't know what your issue is. I made it clear that my disability benefits were for a short spell while my leg healed.

@Pinkypromise43

If I had to give my council house up because I found my feet, I can tell you now I would purposefully never find my feet and not many would. I would purposefully never mobilise upwards as I wouldn’t want to lose my home. Councils know this, researchers know this.

Anyway, I think you were responding to someone else.

I agree. It was a nice idea while it lasted but we live in different times now.

Oh, it is my MN stalker. I literally just mentioned my parents, and you have twisted that to being about me?
I have not even mentioned my circumstances on this thread.

So like I said to you on every thread you follow me on... LEAVE ME ALONE

Well that defeats the Mumsnet position that ‘people only claim what they desperately need and nobody actually wants to be on benefits’

Couldn't be bothered to read the full thread so this has probably already been said but your title is misleading op. There's no evidence to show generations of families that don't work - that's an urban myth no matter what anecdotes any of us have to offer. You'd be better off to ask what we can do about decades of government failure to address economic decline (especially in former industrial areas), the housing crisis, stagnation of wages and below poverty level benefits. After that you can start to build upwards, looking at reinstating the incredibly effective Sure start, committing to eliminating child poverty (and that means allocating as many resources as possible, with assistance from international organisations and other nations if necessary). Child poverty is a violation of human rights so it can no longer be ignored. After that you can begin to focus on specific communities and individuals for targeted support. Until last year the UK didn't actually have any formal policy to address child poverty - that is shocking and disgraceful.

In reality we'll carry on as we are, with some governments tinkering around the edges and others using the populist playbook to increase poverty (looking at you Cameron/Osborne) - and posters like some on here will enjoy slavering at the mouth as they think up ever more extreme punishments for those with the temerity to be born poor in an inequal society.

Well move then! Do you think people in Bangladesh just sit there and say oh no, there’s no work here, I’ll just wait for someone to find me ans give me a job? No, they pick themselves up and move where the work is. Why is this so controversial? If you need work to support your family, you take yourself to whenever there is work available. Whether it’s a stable hand, gardener, cleaner, waitressing, or management consultant or nurse or publisher. It really doesn’t matter - you go where the work is rather than sitting in an economic desert living on handouts waiting for a tap on the shoulder.

This is an odd comment. If you live in an affluent part of the country it’s unlikely you would ever have encountered multigenerational unemployment. I certainly never have here in my part of SW Surrey. However the midlands industrial town I am originally from is a different story.

I don't need to move thanks. I was not on about me anyway.

And another poster had it right. Moving costs money. How can you afford to move with no money?

It’s perfectly logical for people who cannot afford market rate housing to be prioritised for council housing. The problem is the reasons behind why people can’t afford it. I have zero issue with UC top ups for people working FT as full time work should be able to sustain a person or small family - if not, then nobody would bother, and we need people to do these jobs.

It wouldn’t work in reality. No one would improve themselves, they would have no incentive to do so. Many get council housing because of severe circs anyway. We were in a hostel for a year before we got ours but had been on a waiting list for 10 years prior due to overcrowding.

I know, I know, I should have kept my legs shut. Anyway, in regards to CH, there’s much less these days, but giving the housing back generally doesn’t work as people would actively choose not to progress in order to keep their home and not be transferred to private rent. Unstable housing leads to unstable lives, it most certainly wouldn’t lead to a utopia whereby everyone in a council house found their feet. That’s much more likely to happen if MH and substance abuse services were efficient etc. It’s basic social inequality knowledge.

An “urban myth”? I cannot tell you how much I wish it was. It isn’t. You’ve never worked in that sector because if you had, you would know.

But surely you see that that is a major major problem, right? That that is incentivising you to never try to financially better yourself, to live forever dependent on subsidies? Do you honestly think that’s a good system?

There is a MNetter who got a council house as her DS is disabled and needed adaptions. You can't make adaptions in private rentals. Hell, you can't even hang a picture on the wall in them.

I don’t think anyone working should receive top up UC . I personally think it’s up to businesses to pay a decent living wage and if they can’t afford to there’s something wrong with their business model . I’ve also known workers turn down overtime because it messes with their UC. This doesn’t help productivity at all . The whole thing is a mess .

But the problem is that would increase inflation and the cost of living would go up again. It wouldn’t solve anything.

AND PAY FOR ACCOMMODATION HOW???

Fuck's sake.

You are funny! And as wrong as you could be. Try making your point without little digs next time.

Show me the data to show that there are significant numbers of families with multi-generational worklessness and corresponding reliance on benefits.

It defeats no object at all. I did actually state all my circs further up the thread. Can’t really be bothered to do it again. I have a secure tenancy so I am free to mobilise. I certainly wouldn’t if it wasn’t secure so, yeah I am happy with that 😊.@Pinkypromise43

This, it’s really not an urban myth. People who think it’s an urban myth are extremely isolated from reality.

Council housing isn't subsided.