Leaving an 8 yr old home alone all day

[Meiya]

Hi there,
is it ok to leave an 8 yr old home alone all day while a single parent goes out to work from 9 till 5.?
the child has a kitten for company ( she loves cats) but is an only child and spends most of her time alone when not in school because of her fathers work.
she has a phone she can contact him on if need be .

An hour, maybe 2 for a sensible, confident child might be ok. All day is too much.

Absolutely not. One of my dds is that age and even though she has a mild learning disability I wouldn't do this if she didn't. An 8 year old could very easily become frightened at being alone, I wouldn't expect them to prepare their own meal and it would be very lonely for them at the very least.

Not at all

I'm usually a, "Yes! They'lll be fine!" type. But no, that is not ok.

The fact you even have to ask is worrying

The fuck?!

No!!!!

I think its just pure hope for me. That nobody would be this negligent makes you wonder what else is happening.

Is there any reason why you won’t use childcare like a holiday club or childminder or after school club if during term time?

It isn't illegal and even if a safeguarding refers was made it wouldn't necessarily bring a stop to it.

I'm very relaxed but I wouldn't do this, but UK rules are very wishy washy in regards to leaving children.

No

No I would phone the police and social services immediately

Too young. Social services will end up involved if a parent does this.

I agree with Chaos I don't think desperate times means that the child must be being abused.

I do think there is privilege of those that can't imagine being in such a situation.

Absolutely not!!

Poor kid. Left alone in charge of a baby animal all day. Not very good parenting really.

I agree with Chaos I don't think desperate times means that the child must be being abused.

Not being abused doesn't mean not being neglected.
The parent might be doing what they think is best but it's still neglect.

This

Definitely no

I agree with @ItsNotReallyChaos as well. I think we should save our anger for a society that demands lone parents work but provides neither the childcare or the money to pay for it.

Reverse!!

Cost?

How can it be a reverse as OP's not saying or even suggesting they've done this?

Holiday clubs and childminders aren’t available at the snap of your fingers either.

It is possible that

they had childcare and it fell through
they have no money
for whatever reason they have decided the child is better at home

and I wish people would stop spoiling the thread with troll hunting, report it I don’t actually mind troll hunting on threads eg when it’s clearly a perv or racist or whatever but here I’m with MNHQ, it’s not on.

I think if a childminder is out of the question (due to cost, or not being able to find one, say), and it's just for half term, I'd be begging school friends to take the child for a day, or even sending the child to the library (with a packed lunch) or something like that for the day (assuming there's one nearby that's open). Or see if a neighbour could help maybe. Not ideal, but if the parent is going to lose their job if they don't sort something, then those would be better options than leaving the child alone all day.

No. That's far too long, home alone. I'd say age 11 (without SENS) would be okay.