Child free people being told they deserve less yet being expected to do more!

[JenniferBooth]

Has anyone on here experienced any of this?

1. Employment..........being expected to work the Christmas shifts (because the parents want the time off) even though you did it the previous year or the last few years..
2. Family Being expected to take on the care of a child even though you have chosen not to have your own because of emotionally charged comments like " i feel sorry for the child cos none of his family members want him"
3. Housing. particularly social housing, where if you dont have children you are only entitled to a small flat or a bedsit, and God forbid if you happen to live in a bigger place you are told that it is your moral duty to downsize for families.
4. Being asked at a job interview if you have children and then being asked "why? Dont you like responsibility" when you say no. Happened to me back in 2004

Also bear in mind that, even childless, you might find yourself with caring responsibilities later in life... your parents, a sibling etc. I have had childless colleagues moaning under their breath about single parents having to take time off at short notice due to young children being ill... then years later making the most of family friendly policies to drop everything in to take parents to appointments etc.

Except that in my personal experience and that of many friends employers are a lot less sympathetic and accommodating to those with elderly parents than they are to young children.

1. Yanbu
2. Yanbu
3. Pay for your own flat if you don't like tax payer subsidised accommodation. Social housing is meant for vulnerable people, or people in poverty, not the able bodied young, free and single.
4. Yanbu.

No, you’re not where you are because you haven’t reproduced, you’re where you are because you’re low income. Of course you’re only entitled to a one bed in social housing. There’s a huge shortage and it should be there to provide the basics for those who really need it. Families should have more bedrooms because there are more people in a house, that’s just logical, not unfair. If you want bigger then buy your own or private rent like most of us have to.

Anyway we did get offered a flat which is still the same one bedroom flat we are in now 29 years later.Why? Because im childfree by choice and we have always been low income.

So you share a bedroom with a partner? That's the same as any couple with a family would get.

In 29 years you couldn't save and move ? Not saying buying a home but you could have rented a house?

I agree with the time off at Christmas, it should be fair for everyone.

I don't understand what you think you are not getting with regards to housing. A family of four, children same sex, would be entitled to a two bed, so parents sharing a bedroom the same as a couple. A single parent with a only child would have more space per person but you can't avoid that, unless you are purposely building flats with single sized bedrooms only!

The one that gets me is that council tax discount for single people is 25%.. .

Plus all these COL payments that most people with kids are entitled to, plus pensioners, plus people on benefits... just working single people who are left to suffer then

I used to enjoy working over Christmas, got some peace and quiet to get stuff done.
Never expected to pick up other families stuff
Never lived in social housing
Never asked about kids in interviews.

I agree with you on the points re work. The second one is a bit odd… have you ever been asked to take on another family member’s child? Housing… well I think if you’re fully funding it you can have whatever size and configuration of property you like. If the state are funding or part funding it, it was to be based on need. There isn’t any other way of doing it.

I guess that’s because a single person household still needs many of the same council services as someone with children?

One person doesn't use anywhere near as many services as a household with four or five people though @DanceMonster

No, hence the discount. They still need bin collections etc though. I lived on my own for 10 years so I know it is expensive, but looking down the list of services paid for by my council tax I can see why a 25% discount was appropriate.

Are you both quite low income or live in an expensive area? I’d of assumed with two incomes, lowish rent (compared to private market) you’d of managed to save up and buy a bigger house if that’s what you want.

There are lots of jobs where no one works Christmas, so you could change if that was important to you. My work shuts down for two weeks which is a pain as I need to reserve the annual leave.

The reason the council tax was reduced for single person household was because it replaced the poll tax which was a per person arrangement and was pretty much the only thing the UK rioted against so they didn't want to replicate that.

It’s not that easy if you’re on low income and/or live in an expensive area due to work or family and/or are disabled and/or have mental health issues. Lots of people can’t private rent because they might need a guarantor if they have bad finances/low income, also lots of private landlords want holding deposit, bond and first months rent which can be hard to save up. People might not be able to get references or have pets that lots of private landlords wouldn’t allow, although I think this has somewhat changed more recently, or people might have disabilities that a private landlord can’t accommodate. There’s lots of reasons people need social housing and those circumstances might lead people to complain about that social housing or the social housing itself might but everyone is allowed to feel a bit down about things, especially if they can’t change it, a bit like have a good cry and then you feel a release and can move forward.

But that doesn't fit in with the OP's posts about being victimised.

Plus all these COL payments that most people with kids are entitled to

What cost of living payments are most people with kids entitled to?

When you buy your own house you can choose whichever size of property you like/can afford

I still expect to be told I don't need more space because I'm on my own or only have a partner. A couple of posters have been told exactly that.

Now my dc are older it was hinted at that people like me should work Christmas and forsake a holiday. Well they were soon told to F off in no uncertain terms. They took the job they can sort their own dcs out. As for the job interview I had it the other way. I was repeatedly asked who would be looking after my child whilst I came to work. When I replied my dh, the horrified male interviewers kept asking would he not mind?

Yes anti social shift's should be shared, but taking on a family member's child is rare. Social housing should be allocated on need, I think people should be made to downsize once kids have left too so no you don't get spare rooms if you are relying on social housing, it's a scarce resource that ultimately was (or is) subsidised by the public

Point 2: when I was a SHAM ( and that was primarily down to the fact that I could not afford childcare) I was often thought of as free childcare. This was not by family either but other school parents, neighbours etc. No, if I could afford it I’d like to actually go to work myself. You know, get a break from the slog if being with children 24/7. I don’t appreciate being regarded as your free childcare.

Yabvu to hold on to one comment from one job interview in 2004. Do you not think parents are asked ridiculous, discriminatory questions ever that shouldn't be asked?

I was wondering that, I certainly haven’t got any! Have I missed something?

Where I worked all holidays were turn and turn about, first choice given to those who worked the previous year.
Social housing is allocated on the basis of need. A single person needs 1 bedroom so that is what is allocated. The same way bungalows, ground floor flats, and adapted properties are allocated to people who need them. We would always encourage people who no longer needed a large property to downsize, because there is no other way of housing people who need family size homes. Sorry but these are just facts. Social housing providers can't keep on building homes so single people can live in properties with unused bedrooms.

Dunno. This is the childfree board where we can vent about issues relating to people who don't have children.