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

I agree. I do not think it should be a lifelong thing at all.

It's not just those of us who don't have children:

My mum's youngest (my sister) is 32 and there's an assumption that because my siblings and I are grown up, my mum has time to just work...whilst ignoring the fact that 2 of her children are disabled. And one of those has numerous hospital appointments.

Can't you book a foreign holiday over Xmas literally in the first week of Jan that year so that it's already organised. Then just tell management that you've booked it and that's when you're taking your leave. If the mums kick off and call in sick, so what. That's the manager's problem. Not yours. You're sipping a cool one somewhere many miles from all the kerffuflle.

I have sympathy but the prob isn't the parents it's the awful awful management. My DH is a shift worker and we have kids and he works every other Xmas, and when he's not doing Xmas he does NY. Why isn't your management just enforcing this as a condition of employment?

Never been asked that at an interview. Not sure that’s legal.

Yes i’ve been made to work most xmases because I didn’t have children. Only thing to consider here is that there may be genuine childcare issues as most childcare settings including nurseries and childminders close for the xmas week. So it depends how the employer wants to manage that. But i also get it’s not fair on you.

Need doesn’t just mean children, but when you’re getting social housing your need is one bedroom per couple. Why should you get a bigger place than you actually need on social housing? If you had a bigger place than you need for a couple then what happens to those who have 4 people in their family, so they end up in your one bed flat instead? That makes no sense at all. If you want bigger then private rent or buy yourself.

Why do you need another bedroom?

DH sleeps in the living room due to his disabilities Hes 73

We have a similar situation in our house, my DH sleeps on the sofa. However we can’t afford a bigger house.

How are you? I think I recognise you from other threads and different names.....

You've had a really shitty time and I'm sorry. I hope things are better for you.

I'm a former housing officer, housing register applicants are housed according to their need. So a single person or couple would be eligible for a 1 bed. A person with a medical issue would be offered a property that meets their needs, after we had taken advice from medical professionals on the condition and how it affected them. In the dim and distant past, before ' the bedroom tax' we could offer 2 beds, but only flats and bungalows, to couples who were medically eligible due to a medical condition. The Tories decided not to trust our judgement and penalise everyone who had surplus bedrooms. There were definitely people who didn't want to downsize for that reason. I can't say that the Labour Party has done much to alleviate the housing crisis in the country, but the Tories took it to a whole new level. For info we did encourage people to downsize and some providers offered inducements to those will to do so. It was a more carrot than stick approach. And it worked.

If you don't have kids you should work Xmas and live in a bed sit I've done it and would still do it if child free why should you be given a family home with no family ??
Never been asked that bizarre question in an interview ever

Don't understand second bullet point - are you being asked to adopt or give childcare to an unwanted child ?

You know best. My three decades in housing are nothing compared to your reckons.

That's an issue with how housing might not be properly allocated to those with various disabilities. And your situation would be an issue for a couple with children - if they have a child, they'd be given a bedroom for the couple and a bedroom for the child. Still no separate bedroom for your DH. It would also apply to those who have adult children who have moved out.
It's not discrimination against those without children. It's against those with disabilities.

Why should people without children work Christmas?

Childfree people have families too. Why don't they matter?

A family they live with. While a couple could be considered a family, they are usually just referred to as a couple. A family home is two or more bedrooms. A couple would usually share a bedroom, except in some circumstances such as disability.

No one wants this, but if it's between an adult or a child having to live there, I think an adult should. Personally.

If you don't have kids you should work Xmas

Why though, @pimplebum?

Agreed. People with a special need for an extra bedroom should be considered for an exception. It doesn't mean all couples and families should be given a bedroom per person.

But you would rather swap with someone with children so their children have to live there instead?

I don't get this one I have to be honest.

Thank you, that’s kind of you to say. I’m getting there, one step at a time!

So what IS your point?

@Holly60 i didnt say i wanted to SWAP with someone with kids. Gaslight much

So, what do you want, knowing that there isn't enough social housing?

If you wanted to move into a bigger house, someone would have to move out. Where would you like them to go?