Around 100 children lose a parent every day in the UK. Sign the petition so support doesn’t stop at 18 months!

[PenelopePoopStop]

A young widowed mum, Caroline Booth, has started a petition asking the government to revise and extend Bereavement Support Payment, including uprating it annually in line with inflation.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/752501

https://widowsfight.co.uk

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/widow-dealt-morally-indefensible-cruel-33226926.amp

A group of fellow widows are supporting Caroline in this challenge and the petition is gaining momentum, currently standing at over 14,000 signatures 🎉.

However, we still have a long way to go to reach the 100,000 signatures needed for a parliamentary debate and we need your help, Mumsnetters!

Up until 2017, Widowed Parent’s Allowance was paid until dependent children reached the age of 18. Since then, support has been drastically reduced from payments lasting until children reached adulthood to a fixed payment that ends after just 18 months and has not been updated, despite the rising cost of living and repeated campaigns requesting revision.

I was widowed suddenly and unexpectedly in March last year, leaving me parenting our 6 year old daughter and 9 year old son alone. My husband was our primary breadwinner and I previously worked part time. Between us, we were enough for our family.

We are now 10 months in and the shock has not fully worn off. I still struggle to believe that my husband is never coming home.

The notion that a surviving parent and their children would be back on their feet and financially stable within this timeframe is so far from reality and contradicts the evidence. The road is long, painful and hard.

We are fighting for those who are yet to need this support, who are yet to wake up facing a future they previously only imagined in nightmares. We want to make the path they are forced to walk a little safer and less frightening.

Bereaved families should not be pushed into financial instability by circumstances outside their control because of policy stagnation and inattention by government to the disparity affecting children who have lost a parent

❤️ Please sign and share ❤️

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/752501

Signed.

Signed

signed

Signed

Signed

Signed

And shared

Signed

Signed. My DH passed suddenly when my children were 4 and 6. I was a SAHM. I was fortunate to get WPB until my youngest turned 18. It was hugely helpful.

It’s awful this was changed from age 18 to 18 months

Signed

Signed. X

Signed. X

Signed. Good luck.

Signed.

Interestingly, this thread has made me look up what support my DF would have received when my DM died in the early 70s. From what I can see, he was entitled to nothing. Which meant he had to work all hours and rely on family to bring up his 3 toddlers.

Just because he was a man? 😕

Signed. It's really shocking the inequalities that exist in our supposedly fair system and the amount of money that some people can claim, perfectly legitimately, while others with equal or greater need are entitled to nothing.

I’ve been telling people for years about this change, they snuck it through with very little publicity. Signed and shared but unfortunately I can’t see it changing.

Apparently, yes.

Shocking. Even when they changed it in 2017 they used the excuse it was because women can go to work now or something! No consideration for young widowers at all.

Signed. And bumped😊