So free school meals for children of low income familes to be scraped

[ruckyrunt]

and only if you live on unemployment benifit will your children get free school meals

Nothing like not giving any incentive to go back to work then.

This gives those people living on benifit another reason not to work and claim tax credits and working tax credits

it was proposed to give low income fmailies free school meals in junior school.

Its the children that suffer, the little mites do end up going hungry whilst money is spent elsewhere

wrong
child care is different if your child is disabled, first the cost, then the fact that they still need care when older. dd is 15 yet I still do constant care for her.
if she was nt I could give her a key and say see you later.

Its not bashing but I refuse to argue anyway.

Most couples have at least one parent working, if not both so wont be claiming that much in benefits anyway so were obviously not going to be the best example when showing how generous state benefits are.

As for a mother caring for her child, yes as a baby and thats what maternity is for. I dont believe it to be fair that some mothers only get 9 months paid maternity leave yet others can sit on IS for a minimum of 7 years (even more if they have more children). Being a SAHM is a luxury not a right, parents - be it male, female or both - should financially support their children and not expect the state to do it. Circumstances can change but having a child should not automatically entitle someone to benefits when they are physically capable of working.

Forgot to add, childcare for a disabled child will always be far harder to find than a NT child and the childcarer may not be able to meet the hospital appts etc so you cant possibly compare the two as they are poles apart.

Theya re poles apart; not just wrt to the actual care but everything else.

My work was in the field of child protection. if I went in and amde potentially life risking decisions after a sleep of typically 2-4 hours (and I mean for deacedes, not just after having a child- when ds1 / ds2 were born we didn't have TC's or maternity leave anything like now, I was back at 9 weeks) do you really think i'd be safe? In truth there are days when I don't even drive because I would be a risk.

Some weeks I need to take 2-3 days off for various appts (plus as the system is so messy frequently around 50% of those are cancelled at the last minute so carry over to next week- but i wouldn't have ahd a chance to make appts with clients etc etc...)

Now, I have an NT child and indeed an SN one who can access childcare but the issues are way more complex than that! I am not anti single aprents actually, I would far rather we went after absent fathers and adults with no dependents. Do that, scarap trident and rationalise civil service and I think single aprents and carer famillies can be supported fine.

But it's simply not a matter of our childcare issues. caring is far more complex than that and whsilt some people do find ways to work, depending on teh child's needs it can be simply impossible. Take mine for example- ds3 is the mroe severe but it is ds1's aggression that makes work impossible. When we realised this I ahd just gained my degree, about as far from wanitng to be thrown off the careeer ladder as possible. But there are no options, there is no money for extra childcare and it is cheaper for the state to pay CA (a pittance BTW) than cover the costs of those carers working. A shame but a basic fact.

ir's horrible when we get lumped as claimants with the people who genuinely act as leaches isn't it?

So many ways one can end up in need, yet a 'benefits claimant' title that is so often used to condemn each and every one.

And YY about single apents working: in fact my friend just started back at work after a decade now her H has been removed from the home (prison).

I don't see anything wrong with single parents staying home on benefits till their kids are older and then doing part time work if they are able. Most lone parents do work anyway, those who don't may have good reason. It costs just as much to pay for their childcare etc, why not let them stay home if they prefer it for those important years.

They are not like dual income/couple families as they are often doing the work of both parents. i am knackered just doing half of it so highly admire lone parents.

I think often it is some (a minority) working mums who feel they have to work and get annoyed that others are able to stay home and so wish that others didn't have the choice.

It's easy to fall into that way of thinking- i'm about as non judgemental as I can be but do remember being pregannt with ds2, standing with DH at ds1's baptism and both being exhausted from low paid full time jobs then seeing a Mum I knew to be single and unemployed walk past the double buggy I had rejected for cost in favour of less suitable second hand one.

Only fleeting but everyone's acceptable and I think the pain of having to be separated when you want to a be a SAHM is quite intense, it was for me.

I don't have a real opinion on single mums as such; too broad a group. prefer tot hink about individuals.