Child poverty is HOW much??

[UnquietDad]

here

Am I the only one a bit at the definition??

£346 a week for a family of two?

If you'd stopped me in the street and grabbed me by the lapels and said "What's child poverty??" and forced me to put a figure on it, I'd have probably said "living on about less than £150 a week."

Shows how much I know.

Message withdrawn

It's a phase I'm going through...

i live in cornwall and alot of families i know dont even earn £200 a week, so that figure is waaaaay out IMO.

That is before housing costs.

Is it also a gross figure?

(family of 4)

yep, I was a bit as well. we're not all that far off then!

(family of 4)

yep, I was a bit as well. we're not all that far off then!

oops

When they say before housing costs, do they mean

housing costs have to come out of that

or

that's what's left after you've paid your mortgage/rent?

I don't quite get it.

That's £18,000 gross for a family of 4 (not 2! You mean 2 kids, UQD?)

It does sound a bit on the high side as a definition of poverty.

we are well below that, but wouldn't say we live in poverty, very tight though

Yes I meant family with two children, i.e. family of 4. The lone parent figure is £271.

Before housing costs mean before they are paid (UQD, is English not your native language? )

Works out at about a 17k salary.

Loads of jobs are advertised at around this.

Loads of skilled, proper, full-time jobs which require qualifications and experience.

And the people doing these are defined as being in poverty??

Before housing costs would mean that houseing costs have to be paid out of that sum.

oh come on, it isn't clear

THat will be total income. Not just salary but any benefits received incl child benefit.

£17k to support one adult is not bad.

How much would an unemployed family of 2 adults with 2 children receive in benefits (which are net of tax of course)?

I'm assuming that's a gross figure. That's about £16,000/pa.

Now take off tax and NI. Now factor in housing - if you're renting privately in a big city, expect that to be around £700/month or about £8500/pa.

That'll be another £1000 or so off for council tax, a further £1000 or so for utilities.

Damn, you still have to eat and feed everyone.

Guess what? You're poor.

Ahh, if it includes benfits that starts to make a small amount more sense.

I'm not disputing anyone.

I just find it incredible that, if £16-17k pa is defined as poor, so many "good" jobs are advertised for that sum or under.

It is a net figure. So it is a total income of just over £16k before tax. Total income, not just salary, all benefits two. Child benefit for two kids over a year is something like £1500 so you are looking at a salary of less than £14k before tax.

We live on around £365 per week before paying rent. That's for 5 of us though. That is Jobseeker's allowance + Child Tax Credits + Housing Benefit for 2 adults and 3 children. I know at least 5 families who are on less than this per person and they are working households.

Rising housing costs and fuel bills are rapidly starting to eat into these sums. Council tax, too.

In general, a person or couple earning £16,000 will not qualify for council tax benefit.

D'you know that pisses me off. By that definition I'm living in total poverty and yet my kids aren't entitled to free school meals or free milk.

Where's the logic?

Nobody ever talks about low wages as a political issue UnquietDad.

It's just not ever discussed in the media or anywhere really, ever,.