Child Poverty. With our benefits system ie. Housing, council tax, income support, child benefit. Is there any need for a child in the UK to be suffering from this?

[Bubble99]

Discuss.

"I saw so much, too much poverty when with Homestart, a sad fact of this poverty was the bullying that these poor children encountered while at school- making them skip school, and from there of course they miss out on education, making themselves quite often unemployable.....and so the pattern continues."

That is exactly why the chaos in our schools makes me . It deprives so many children of a chance to gain an education. IME those children with chaotic home lives are more vulnerable to "bullying" - a term used these days to include all kinds of harassment and abuse.

FACT: I have a family on my caseload in a one bedroom flat where they have been for over six months. The eldest child (about to start school) is now old enough to know her life is different from other children. There are four children.
None of the children have a bed - they have to sleep on cushions on the floor and share the adult bed. The family are priority for re-housing - and have been for the past 3 months but are still living in their overcrowded conditions. Yes - poverty DOES exist.

Nd as aI am sure you know incognito, there are the 'holding hostels' for accomodation where every person in town knows you are homeless from your address,a nd the accomodation is tiny and you get 2 kids plus aprents in rone room

Peachy and Incognito, what can people like me do about this? I've discussed this with a friend of mine and there doesn't seem to be any organisation that we can donate goods and money to. Even when I can't spare any cash I usually have stuff I am getting rid of.

Have you looked on the homestart website? Do take a look- for a start you might be able to pass the info on to anyone you know who could volunteer 9there's a massive shortage )- that's huge in itself. Also there are different palces that could take things. Homestart amy be able to pass on baby tings, we could sometimes; also many councils have places where poeple on low incomes can buy furniture cheaply- thee are run either by the council or a charity depending on the area. Socials ervices desk would know if ohe operates locally and they exist on donations of goods.

Freecycle is also useful, as some areas now offer schemes that get low income families on the net.

The best thing though is just to be aware that often people are there through no fault of their own- the example earlier was a cot death , particualr family i'm thinking of were victims of a dodgy landlord who kept their deposit as is their wont, and left them without cash for a new deposit- council lists are always full, so they ended up in one room accomodation with a small toddler, and their second baby was born (by accident)in that very room . That ahd a happy ending- they got a lovely LA house in an area where most people were desperate to move- but some poelpe were stuck there for ages in that hostel 9you had to clear cuncila rrers before you got a house- all fair for adult, hellish for children)

Thanks Peachy. It is so frustrating not being able to do anything. I've tried our local Homestart but they can't store anything, neither can my hv, so unless it can get passed on there and then they can't take it. We live in an apparently affluent area so the outlets aren't obvious.

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we are better off now than when working. when we are able to get back into work it is really going to bite. that needs addressing. we would rather be working, even if it means less money, but can really understand why some people dont see it that way. we are given over £2300 a month, plus no rent or ctax. we didn't make even half that before, with own rent and ctax to pay. benefits system does not support working and it should change to give people help to work, not a reason not to.

Crikey, that's nearly twice what we earn and we have to pay mortgage and council tax. Madness (but I'm glad you're getting the help you need at this time). Good luck when you get back into work.

gosh - can i ask why you're getting so much? its certainly not a standard amount is it iyswim, are you a very large family?

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no its 3 people on high rate dla care and 1 on low mobility in cash, although we get a motability car instead of the other (high rate) mobility componant of one dla so we also get carers allowance and severe disablement element of child tax credits and extra income support etc, so it works out at just over £2300 every 4 weeks, plus the car and rent and hb, and free nhs dental/optician etc.

it is much much needed in our situation but as you can tell i am so ashamed of being on benefits like this that i changed my name and disguised my writing style. i dont even know you all in rl but i cant even face people on here in my 'real' fake name, iyswim!

Oh APseudonym - it sounds like you need every penny. Don't feel bad for goodness sake. And definitely don't be ashamed.

Really dont be ashamed, I was on just income support for years due to nothing more than being a single mum. When I had my daughter I was in what I thought was a stable relationship and was only going to return to work pt until she was school age. When the relationship finished I tried working pt but it didnt work on benefits and I didnt want to have to give up spending so much time with my daughter to work full time just because my xp had been a d*ck!

Alot of people were judgemental about me being single mum on benefits and are about people on benefits like IS and JSA but I've never known anyone be that way about DLA. You have no reason to feel ashamed and you deserve every penny of that money, you get that much because you need that much.

Politicians talk about poverty in relative and not absolute terms for some weird reason. Thus if you have less than x% of the average family income you are in poverty, no matter how high the average family income might be.

So 1 in 3 children is living in poverty in the UK.
end child poverty campaign

In my town however I doubt there is more than 1 in 100 children who I would consider to be living in poverty.

My local town is very affluent. I think that it is very hard for those who are on low incomes here. For example, public transport from the villages to the town is virtually non-existent so you need a car. Then our local shops are pricey. The town is small so you need to be able to get to the neartest city for things like hospital appts. There are no teenage mothers' schemes b/c there are few teen mums - when I was doing antenatal classes when pg with dd1 and a teen mum came she was the youngest there by about ten yrs - she only came once. There's no Surestart...I could go on.