Save the Children launches appeal for children in the UK

[Vagaceratops]

BBC link

And it will get worse :(

I would suggest that there are very, very many people on benefits whose experience does not tally with this view.#

Martin Narey Recently, when I was trying to persuade a conference of doctors that benefits were inadequate for a reasonable standard of living

Xenia, do you agree with his view that benefits are inadequate for a reasonable standard of living.

Also, I think he would very much disagree with you that people who go in to their overdraft are 'idiots'. Some may be but income from benefits doesn't give you much of a buffer zone if you have an unforeseen expense.

The term 'reasonable standard of living', has that been given a definition?

More to the point, what does Martin Narey consider to be a reasonable standard of living.

He says benefits feed the poor. STC was saying otherwise and they are wrong.
A reasonable standard of living is very subjective. If the poor are fed and housed that is fine. That is what a welfare state should do. I do not believe it is there to ensure everyone has the same standard of living and I believe in absolute poverty standards not relative.

Normally i don't wish I'll on people but I'll make an exception here and say xenia i really do hope that one day you find yourself in financial difficulty and need help.

Maybe then you will open your eyes and realise how disgusting your attitude is.

I second that Sun Wukong.

And Xenia still hasnt stated whether she practices what she preaches upthread with regards to claiming Child Benefit.

both my teenagers already have bank accounts. they have both already had part time jobs. they do have passports but paid for by us. I think in this day and age the bank account thing is a bit feeble.

in fact they have all had accounts since they were little.

i would have thought most kids would have a passport to go on school trips etc (e.g. day trip to France)

XeniaSun 09-Sep-12 09:07:16

I certanily agree with thebone. Now it might be said I do a lot of things for nothing (and am pretty silent about it) because I'm fairly well off because I've worked hard etc but we do in a lot of the volunteer stuff I am involved with see people incredulous we'd do something for nothing. We need to change attitidues so people don't think the state owes me more but to think wow I'm so lucky as a single person on benefits - all my rent in a room in a house is paid and I get £53 a week and free prescription charges or whatever it is that that single person would get, rather than oh woe is me, this is too little to eat. And then people think I am prepared to take this hand out for a year but after that I will get a job and if there isn't one here in Hull I will go to London or Australia to look for work. The attitude of some older people in the UK that they will not claim benefits even those to which they are entitled has not much filtered down to younger people.

Well Xenia. Has it filltered down to you. Do you practise what you preach about this mythical group of older people who dont claim even what they are entitled to.? So you dont claim the Child Benefit that you are entitled to then?!

Narey obviously thinks that providing food and clothing and presumably housing are not enough, and that people on benefits should have a 'reasonable standard of living'. At the end he essentially says benefit money should be taken from those who don't need it and given to families who do, he wants people on benefits to have more money. Are you sure you agree with him Xenia?

''I believe in absolute poverty standards not relative''

What does that mean? You think poverty is only real if somebody has less than $1.5 a day to live on?

Oh rubbish my bother sister and ffather have never had passports inthere lives, bfs family don't have passports, and no one in my family bothered getting bank accounts until they had jobs.

I think I agree that in principle, if you have a balanced life safe from risks and danger, or faulty appliances with a reliable cheap bus service, an allotment and a home that isn't drafty with not too many children you will be able to manage on JSA for a few months.

But after a bit of time of being unemployed things start to go wrong, a leak in a pipe, a broken down washing machine, things that may set you back and if you can't pay for the repair you will end up with further problems. Dirty clothes, damp and mould, it all creeps up very quickly. You may lose your self-confidence a little, want to go out less, not afford a haircut. All of these things added up make life on benefit no longer about 'being able to feed the family for a week', but about 'what can we afford to tackle this week'.

What this country needs is employment - whether it is paid or voluntary, we need to get people being productive before they become unemployable.

but don't your children have bank accounts. i opened them when they were babies and if they got money from relatives, i paid it in.

what about post office accounts. most people have those even if they have a low income.

if fact my mum used to collect her family allowance from there.

also i though benefits were paid into bank accounts now/

I think in this day and age the bank account thing is a bit feeble.

i would have thought most kids would have a passport to go on school trips etc (e.g. day trip to France)

alemci '' the poor have no bread? let them eat cake! ''

Only thing he's got is the one opened for the child trust fund and that's not had any money put in it since it was opened.

And he doesn't have a passport for that matter nor do i it expired 2 years ago.

No relatives give him money why would they, people give presents at Christmas and birthday not cash in a bank.

alemci, to open an account for a child you either need a bank account of your own in that particular bank, or a passport/drivers license and proof of address.

Post office accounts don't have a direct debit facility, they're basically just to receive benefit money in to them and all you can do is check balance and withdraw cash. I don't know if you can use the cash in ATMs or if you're restricted to withdrawing at the post-office only.

Lol at people on benefits having allotments.

*cash = card. I don't know if you can use the card in normal ATMs.

The post offices have there own atms on the outside of them, you have to use them, even tho the service is provided by Halifax the system is different the card doesn't work anywhere other then at the post office.

Post office and metro bank, banks of the poor especially considering some banks will not let you open an account unless you have a minimum amount going into it every month that's normally a lot more then 60 pound a week.

I'm finding the levels of ignorance and blind idiocy on here hilarious. Some of you people really are in living in a magical world of make believe.

And I'm finding the constant, self-pitying, "its everyone else's fault" excuses increasingly tedious. How do you think the rest of us manage? Without rich parents or handouts or special treatment of any kind, the majority of us manage to just get on with life. Yes, people fall on tough times, that's what the welfare state is for. Its not supposed to carry you for the rest of your life ? you are supposed to pick up the pieces and get on with it, not sit there bleating. Grow a backbone.

Grow a backbone? What the hell are you on about, i am mearly pointing out the complete and total lack of any understanding of the world shown by some, who have no understanding of the fact once you have troubles everyone lines up to fleece even more off you and make things even worse and that every argument here has a massive catch 22 attached to it.

Man's inhumanity to man is such a sight to behold.

The allotment thing was a bit unrealistic, it doesn't help much financially. It costs about £100 in fees and manure (required annually). On top of that you have to buy tools and seeds, compost, pots for seedlings, it probably isn't a very viable option for the poor these days. You need to be getting at least £4 worth of veg per week to make it viable. You also need to commit to at least 10 hours a week of labour in summer.