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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To baulk at the phrase 'achieve economic well-being' in the 'Every Child Matters' 5 outcomes?

88 replies

Druzhok · 15/06/2010 11:21

WTF? I spotted this in an OFTSED report.

Dh (a teacher) tells me that the 5th of the Every Child Matters outcomes is to ensure that children and young people are supported to achieve economic well-being.

Or, as I read it, groomed to be little corporate drones.

Economic wellbeing! I don't like it at all!

The other 4, by the way, are:

?be healthy
?stay safe
?enjoy and achieve
?make a positive contribution

They ^ all seem great.

Economic wellbeing!!! I keep muttering it to myself and getting cross

OP posts:
toccatanfudge · 15/06/2010 11:24

what's wrong with wanting our children to have economic well being?

Surely that just means that they're supported to be able to find work and make a living and support themselves and not go on to live in poverty?

IamBatman · 15/06/2010 11:24

its a bit of a stupid phrase to use when perhaps 'financial stability' might be better.
I don't think ti means they have to be corporate drones though they just want them to earn enough to live on

toccatanfudge · 15/06/2010 11:26

"Achieve Economic Wellbeing
Children and young people should engage in further education, employment or training on leaving school, are ready for employment, live in decent homes and sustainable communities, have access to transport and material goods, live in households free from low income.

Priorities for achieving economic wellbeing

reduce child poverty
progression of people from deprived backgrounds to higher education"

not sure what there is to get cross about there? I'd rather like my children to grow up and get a job and live in a decent house, and hopefully that will mean that their children won't be living on poverty, and hence their prospects increase as well

porcamiseria · 15/06/2010 11:26

erre whats wrong with that, better than poverty!!!!

EricNorthmansmistress · 15/06/2010 11:27

No it means having the skills to get and keep a job, hopefully a fulfilling one. Jesus - you think the government wants us to turn our careleavers into 'little corporate drones'? No - achieving economic well being would be having a stable enough life to keep a job in maccyds for some young people. It is a very important aim and one which should not be overlooked in helping young people to plan their futures.

Original poster
Druzhok · 15/06/2010 11:27

It jsut seems so ... god, soul destroying, to be talking about economic wellbeing with small children.

I suppose I didn't consider my economic well-being until I was about 25.

OP posts:
toccatanfudge · 15/06/2010 11:27

by the way - the quote I did above was from link{https://securechildrenservice.newcastle.gov.uk/mcs_aecowellb\here} (which was the first page that came up when I googled it)

GypsyMoth · 15/06/2010 11:28

does this include teaching them money management/budgeting/living within their means??

Litchick · 15/06/2010 11:29

I think it's essential that we all harbour the desire to be econimically stable.
Doesn't mean rich. Doesn't mean anythig corporate. Just means that from a young age we all know that we should aspire to haing economic freedom.

I don't, though, think it's a school's job.

toccatanfudge · 15/06/2010 11:29

problem with waiting until you're 25 to consider is that many of the people that this is targetted it will be growing up in poverty, and may well have children of their won before they hit 25, who will be living in poverty with them, as economic well being wasn't sorted before....

Original poster
Druzhok · 15/06/2010 11:31

Does no-one else get a little shiver when they read it, then?

I am imagining a grey suited man discussing pension plans with pre schoolers ;)

toccatanfudge - the info you posted does place into more context. I took all of those opportunities for granted, so didn't have to consider my economic wellbeing until I was much older.

I still don't like the sound of it, though!

OP posts:
toccatanfudge · 15/06/2010 11:31

Litchick - so are you saying it should be solely the parents responsbility?

As then imo you're basically saying that if you're born into a family where economic well being doesn't exist and is never promoted tough shit........

AMumInScotland · 15/06/2010 11:32

Since the opposite of economic well-being would be poverty, I don't think it's a bad goal, as part of the package. I certainly hope my DS achieves economic wellbeing, and I doubt he'll be a corporate drone!

He's already aware of the need for an income to pay the bills, to be balanced up with what he wants to do in life, which is play music. For him, economic wellbeing is likely to be a part-time steady income plus very unsteady income from music.

EricNorthmansmistress · 15/06/2010 11:32

No because I work with 16+ careleavers for whom the ECM is very current, and that outcome in particular is very relevant. Doesn't bother me at all.

toccatanfudge · 15/06/2010 11:32

nope - no shiver here - I want my own children to have economic stability/well being, especially given it's something that I don't have right now.

Altinkum · 15/06/2010 11:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Druzhok · 15/06/2010 11:35

Interesting how I started this thread feeling like an anti-corporate socialist and now feel like a spoilt princess type

How far does it go: do we know? I agree very much re the aspirational stuff (access to further education etc), but I still want to know if they will be advising on (for the want of a better term) personal finance in some way.

OP posts:
chandellina · 15/06/2010 11:35

no shivers here. i think you are just being ABU about the word "economic." It's just a word.

if my son isn't thinking of his economic wellbeing until 25, that implies i am supporting him.

Original poster
Druzhok · 15/06/2010 11:36

'They' = erm, not sure.

OP posts:
CatIsSleepy · 15/06/2010 11:38

my dds better be considering their economic well-being well before the age of 25 i can tell you

Pootles2010 · 15/06/2010 11:39

I think its just giving children the idea that its good to be sensible about money, which is surely good to instill from an early age? Just things like explaining that we can't go on this bels and whistles trip to disneyland because its very expensive, or no you can't have that pair of £200 trainers.

If children have parents who are fairly sensible with money, and explain this to them, that will help them, surely?

maktaitai · 15/06/2010 11:42

If you didn't have to think about your economic well-being until you were 25, then you had it tbh.

I had it too by anyone's measure, but I was certainly hyper-aware of money from age 11 when my family started losing money seriously, all the way until I was 16 when we lost our house, having opened the door to bailiffs, had power cut off etc. And then when I was 18, being refused bank accounts etc because I had similar initials to my Dad.

I would think of economic well-being as having the skills to earn a living and to plan your life with regard to working/not working (e.g. having children, travelling); to be aware of things like scams and con-persons, without worrying about them too much; to know about why some work is illegal; to know about some major financial decisions and their implications, personally and perhaps more globally too. Being aware of pensions wouldn't be a disaster either tbh.

lulabellarama · 15/06/2010 11:43

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

toccatanfudge · 15/06/2010 11:43

Actually the more I read on that website, the more important I think it is.

Low aspirations is a huge problem (wall in the head) and until that is tackled head on and young people have real apisrations to better themselves many of the other outcomes are going to be difficult to achieve.

Litchick · 15/06/2010 11:44

Tocca- I just have massive misgivings about schools ie the state, imposing their views on children, particularly in terms of their future.

Surely this is not the remit of the state but the family?

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