Support bubbles

[mastertomsmum]

Am I the only person who thinks support bubbles are ill thought through. Why, for instance, is a household consisting of 1 adult and 2 kids ok to become part of a support bubble when it’s not really a household of 1 at all?

I suppose it’s meant to be about needs. However, my elderly parents - one of whom is disabled can’t be part of a support bubble with our 3 person household because 2 of us are adults.

Some households where the only other adult is disabled can form a support bubble but I think the criteria is they need round the clock care.

You seriously can’t think of one reason a single parent might need support??

Because if I wasn't, the only adult I would have ever seen over the last year is my ex husband, who created on me, when he comes to pick up our two incredibly challenging children. One diagnosed SEN, one likely.
If I didn't have my support bubble I think i may well have done away with all three of us by now. Or dropped my children off at their dad's and then done myself in at least.
It sounds flippant but I honestly think I might have.

Yeah, fuck the single parents, let's make them work all day whilst simultaneously homeschooling 3 kids then drag them all round Sainsbury's at the end of the day just for fun when they realise the cupboards are bare.

Ps. Presumably your disabled parent has another adult in the house to assist them? If there needs are such that they require outside support/ a career surely this is still permitted?

Of course a single adult needs a support bubble. The support bubbles are for the people who need it most. Everyone could argue they need one but the identified list are for specific reasons.

Why do your parents need one?

Because spending 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by yourself is horrendous

Tell you what @mastertomsmum have a go at being a single parent then Come back and let us know how you got on

Yeh people obviously aren’t even getting the idea of them, my mum lives alone and I spoke to my mum earlier who was listing 3 different “support bubbles” she has 😕

Wow just wow, you can't think of any reason a person would need a support bubble really not one?

They are not ill thought through for everyone. I live alone, my work sector - leisure - is shut down - I have one person that I bubble with - if I cannot see them then what is the point of my life? To spend a year alone? I know this is not AIBU but you are BU OP. Yes some people are taking the piss but for others, it gives them support and a reason to keep going.

Yes you are the only one. HTH

@Givemeabreak88

Yeh people obviously aren’t even getting the idea of them, my mum lives alone and I spoke to my mum earlier who was listing 3 different “support bubbles” she has 😕

Support bubbles aren't wrong just because your mum is abusing the term!

OP, what makes you feel your parents should be allowed a support bubble?

Guys, I understand the needs but the rules are strange if they place a 91 sole carer and and a blind 88 year old in a different category to a single parent. I’m not saying you sole parents don’t need a bubble

If your parent who is blind requires continuous care, then your parents can form a support bubble with another household.

@mastertomsmum to me that sound like a good reason for a support bubble, how are they expected to cope with no help?

@mastertomsmum they can form a bubble.

OP your parents are entitled to a support bubble.
An adult living with another disabled adult can form one.

There’s a lot I think has been done badly with covid but I must say support bubbles are pretty well thought out.

I do find it odd your suggestion that an adult with two children under 5 should be ‘a household of 3’ it’s a million miles away from a house with 3 adults living in it. Single parents do require much more support than non disabled adults living together. That’s just fact.

With school closures, shopping along campaigns and hospitals/most official appointments banning the bringing of kids parents would be totally stuck without help. I was delighted that they also brought in the child under one support bubble. I had a newborn in March and it was hideous. So many new mums fell into awful PND due to covid, lack of support and isolation.

You can form a support bubble with another household of any size if:
• you live by yourself – even if carers visit you to provide support
• you are the only adult in your household who does not need continuous care as a result of a disability

That's from gov website.

@mastertomsmum 'Guys, I understand the needs but the rules are strange if they place a 91 sole carer and and a blind 88 year old in a different category to a single parent' it that's the point. The rules don't place them in a different category.

It was not defined enough, as it needed detail which Boris Johnson does not do.

The important message from Matt Hancock was that a support bubble is fixed.