School children should receive free bus travel before pensioners?

[Itchthescratch]

My child is starting a school where it will cost around £2k for bus travel. This school is local and one of the closest schools to us. The other schools close to us are much worse in terms of opportunities and academic outcomes. I can afford the bus fare easily but I worry that some poorer families will really struggle to send their children to the higher achieving school because of the cost.

I understand that there isn't an endless pot of money but surely it would make sense to give school children free travel ahead of other groups like pensioners? School children are statistically much more likely to suffer from poverty (child poverty is almost double pensioner poverty)and it seems crazy that we aren't supporting social mobility whilst we let all pensioners travel for free on buses.

People who can’t afford it should receive free bus fare. My dc takes the bus to school. It’s free. It’s our closest school but about a 15 minute drive away. I would be happy to pay if I needed to. I don’t think anyone pays though. It’s certainly not means tested.

I agree that there are lots of pensioners who do not need help (my mum’s pension for example is more than Dh and I earn in a month and we are high earners, over £100k a year!). She definitely doesn’t need free anything, but some do.

School children should receive free bus passes for the routes to and from school (if it’s the closest with spaces!)

But that shouldn’t be to the detriment of other groups who benefit from it.

I don't know where you live but if the travel isn't free it's usually because the school is within safe walking distance, ie under 2 miles for children up to 8 years old and under 3 miles for older schoolchildren.

Totally agree op

I thought all children up until the age of 16 got free bus travel?

in Scotland everyone age 5-21 gets free bus travel.

The argument I always hear on this forum is that it's more expensive to means test these things than to provide universally to a group. Personally I never really buy into that as you can easily identify poor pensioners who e.g. claim pension credit or children who need FSM etc.

Either way assuming that means test is too expensive then surely it makes sense to prioritise children over pensioners from a purely statistical perspective. More of them will be suffering from poverty so will benefit more from free travel?

Should be free for all trains too.

Funded by huge taxes on polluting companies. An emission offset tax.

They do in Scotland…from 5 to 21 I believe.

Not her state pension surely?

But what if the nearest school is inadequate and underachieving? This will statistically impact poorer people that can't afford to live in affluent areas with desirable schools but could travel to them. For us, there is an enormous difference in results between local schools and suprise suprise, the bad schools are in deprived areas.

they do, but a lot of people also pay more in tax......

No I agree with the OP, it's shocking to me that children no longer seem to get free bus travel to school. Back in the day you'd get it automatically, right up until the end of sixth form.

No!!! The maximum state pension is around £12K a year!

Why on earth is this an either/or question?

Tax a billionaire and fund travel for both groups.

You're quibbling over crumbs while certain people are stashing entire PIES in offshore accounts.

Perhaps they could fund the cost to the nearest and parents top up I’m not sure but if parents are making the choice to pick a school further away then I think expecting that to be funded is a bit cheeky really!

Another pensioner bashing thread - yawn.

Well yes. I assumed she must have significant private pension income.

It would take an 11 year old 75 minutes to walk 3 miles. My child would have to set off at 7.20 to get to school on time. Would you really want an 11 year old walking this far in the dark early morning or winter evening? Keep in mind many of the roads are unlit and on quiet, isolated streets. Smart phones have been banned so they would only have a brick phone.

Kids in London get free tube and bus travel don’t they? It should be everywhere.

If you’ve chosen to go to a school further away that’s on you.

Not all pensioners have access to a car or are well enough to drive. We should be encouraging them to use the bus more not taking it away.

Why is it cheeky? Surely it's cheeky that the state can't give everyone a decent education so that so many already deprived and struggling families have rubbish schools on their doorstep?

I think they should ban school children from the mainstream rush hour bus services personally, rather than handing them free travel! They should just provide school buses for those who don't live within walking distance. It can be IMPOSSIBLE to get to work on time if you rely on a bus. I've witnessed it all too often, kids boarding the buses in huge groups, taking up all of the space and they tend to only stay on the bus for a few stops.

You were offered nearer schools. If you chose a school further away you sort out how to get your child there.

I hate these generational wars. Im in London and both kids and pensioners get free bus passes. Maybe just make busses free for all. It shouldn't be one or the other. Mind you, the kids outside the local huge secondary queue up to travel one or two stops which they could easily walk- you could argue pensioners are much more likely to have mobility issues.