Baby boxes—thoughts?

[LocalEditorEdinburgh]

Hi there

We would love to hear what you think about the Finnish-style baby boxes for newborns going Scotland-wide. Useful? wasteful? New members' views welcome too.

Useful for those with nothing, especially refugees,but very wasteful to give them to everybody!

I can't imagine many people are actually going to put their baby to sleep in a box as it's not big enough to last even as long as a crib or a Moses basket so you will have to buy one of those too / or a cot.

Better off putting the resources into effectively distributing hand quality second hand items to those who don't have friends and family to help them out in this way - the clothes and baby equipment that we were given from friends who had loved them and used them, along with their support and advice was what made baby rearing easier - not a box of stuff

I think it's a great idea, and I don't agree that it's wasteful to give them to everyone. Most of the things in the box are things that most people will want, and will be easy to give away if not. Means-testing it would have been costly in itself, would have missed lots of people who didn't have whatever flag was used or who didn't put themselves forward, and might have attached a stigma to using the things recognisable as coming from the box. Fwiw I never had a Moses basket (just a cot); could have afforded it, but with all the other expense at the time, it wasn't a priority. I'd have found this box useful enough for naps not in the bedroom to feel good about having it though, and then I'd have made good use of the box itself once it was outgrown.

It doesn't cost much in the grand scheme of things and the Finnish experience suggests that it may reduce cot deaths; at the same time, it ensures that all babies have at least some book experience, and it's just a really nice thing to do. Will reduce the stress on people who'd otherwise have to make difficult choices about what they can afford.

IIRR you don't have to have it, either - I mean, obviously you could receive it and give or even throw it away, but also, it is possible simply to opt out, if you don't want it.

Also, I really like the fact that it's all unisex!

I really like it. There are a lot of people who would go without and this scheme minimises the number of parents who will struggle. It's well designed, well packaged and unisex, so what's not to like?

I like it, but agree that if I'd got it (my DS is 11 now) I might have felt it was a waste because I didn't need it. I understand the reasoning around making it universal, but I don't know - folk are funny about hand-outs, aren't they? I kind of think the virtue signalling scandi model fans will use it, whereas the people who need it will go into debt for a moses basket with all the trimmings - but that's maybe a prejudiced pov. I do very much like that its gender neutral.

I think it is wasteful. Better to give it to people who are in need, and then give the same people more again at six months.

It's a bit gimmicky I fear and blatantly designed to appeal to a key voting demographic. It is undoubtedly a lovely idea, but given the state of Scottish finances, I think it is wasteful for it to be universal. I like AddToBasket suggestion of ongoing help for those who need it most.
We recently had a baby - missed the cut off date for the boxes by a few weeks. We thought at one point we would be eligible but had already agreed with DH that we didn't need it and wouldn't take it.
I don't agree with universal free prescriptions either!

Agree with baffled why couldn't they give a limited amount to HV to give on an as needed basis? I wouldn't have used them if I'd got one, it would be donated along with the free books we get, my kids have plenty of books. It might also be a point of pride to people on lower incomes to prove they can afford more than the stuff in the box so not sure it'll help.

Why not spend money on providing more free nursery hours to 2 year olds?

Will the clothes be the same in all boxes? So if you saw a baby wearing an outfit you'd know immediately it was from the box if you got one that year? The free books have a logo on the back about being from the govt.

That could be a bit humiliating. I'm hoping they are varying the clothes so no identifiably from the box.

No, it absolutely won't be humiliating when things are recognised as being from the box - because everyone gets one, regardless of wealth. That's one good reason for not means testing it: once you go down that route you have a whole load of complication to try to get it to all the people who need it, and then even once you've managed that, you get people feeling you should vary the stuff because of stigma associated with being a recipient...

These are nice baby clothes. If you're rich, relatively speaking, have your baby wear them with pride, and thereby help to make sure nobody assumes all recipients are poor. And if you're poor, rest assured nobody can tell you're not a rich person doing that

Yes but it's still the case that using them shows that you didn't have enough of your own baby stuff - we'll see what the uptake is. I don't agree with universal benefits and they manage to hand out endless pamphlets through HV and the free books so why not have the HVs do it on an as needed basis?

Of all the things that are costly about having dc though, it isn't clothes that break the bank, it's childcare. Classic failure to focus on the important issues and instead have something headline grabbing and tokenistic. Supermarkets, boot fairs, charity shops - lots of cheap clothes around, but many will struggle to pay childcare bills.

Not sure why you wouldn't want vouchers or varied clothing in any case - why do I want a state provided baby uniform? They could've provided vouchers to give people a free choice of clothes and avoided recipient stigma.

I'll be getting on when my baby arrives in November. I would be happy to go without as I think it's so wasteful - but I'm getting one as I feel my taxes have gone towards paying for it!
I think it's a gimmick to appeal to voters when I would much prefer the huge amounts of cash used for the scheme to be spent on the NHS in Scotland

I have refused to register with the scheme for when my baby is born. I agree with everything baffledmummy has said. It's wasteful, it's gimmicky and I'd rather it went to someone who actually needed it. This is my second baby so I already have everything I need from the first time round. I wouldn't have taken it the first time either mind you. I agree it'll be interesting to see what the uptake is.

But it is going to someone who needs it - everyone is getting one because no means testing keeps the cost down.

If it keeps the costs down, why are they costing 50% more than the original projection?
The Finnish experts have stated as recently as last week that the box itself will do nothing to reduce the infant mortality rate, and that the success has come from the compulsory monitoring - which isn't happening in Scotland

Also why did they need means testing? A number could've been left with the HV and handed out on an as needed basis - clothing vouchers rather than all the same clothes. Access to plenty of additional services is already at the HV's discretion. No formal means testing required.