Thousands of children forced to grow up in shipping containers

[stumbledin]

More than 210,000 children are estimated to be homeless across England, with thousands growing up in shipping containers, office blocks and B&Bs, often miles away from their schools, research shows.

Politicians and campaigners have accused ministers of a “catastrophic failure” to address the housing crisis after a study by the children’s commissioner found the true number of children living without a permanent home was considerably higher than government estimates.

Ms Longfield said: “Something has gone very wrong with our housing system when children are growing up in B&Bs, shipping containers and old office blocks.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/child-homeless-shipping-containers-office-blocks-housing-a9071726.html

What an indictment of the UK that in 21st century children are being put through this. And presumably this means that many single women have found themselves with no other option than to accept this is the only option they have.

I was horrified to see this on the news tonight - could hardly believe it. Those poor families.

I wonder how many of the kids are growing up with just their mums?

Proof that austerity measures hit women and children hardest.

Unbelievable

The kids are so vulnerable

I dont know of any women who wake up one day and 'find' themselves in this position. It would be good if we could educate these women to make better choices to choose not to have children at all if it meant being subject to such lives until they are able to provide some sort of security and stability.

Pretty much anyone can find themselves in this position.

I dont know of any women who wake up one day and 'find' themselves in this position. It would be good if we could educate these women to make better choices to choose not to have children at all if it meant being subject to such lives until they are able to provide some sort of security and stability.

Yes, children are a luxury product, don't you know. Not for the poor.

Poof....as if by magic, well I never...

Ill have to remember to wrap up in case i wake up with the kids in a shipping container tomorrow morning.

Poor life choices will be the general cause of people ending up here. Some of those will be a result of their circumstances, and i get that.
However anyone who makes sensible choices will be highly unlikely to find themselves facing these conditions.

If there isn't enough housing, and what there is is treated as a commodity, a certain percentage of people will end up living like this, good or bad choices. I'm sure people in Finland and Singapore make stupid choices. Oddly they are still housed.

A worrying number of people are just one payday away from finding themselves in a pickle. Bereavement, relationship breakdown, illness, redundancy - all of these things are outside of our control and could happen to any of us. Even to responsible people, who make sensible choices...

'Yes, children are a luxury product, don't you know. Not for the poor.'

Sigh. God forbid someone points out about people having personal accountability, and not having children when they can't afford to feed and house themselves/ the children they've already got. No, people shouldn't bloody have children if they knowingly can't offer them an adequate standard of living. I know this is not always possible blah blah blah but the poster was talking about minimising damage through education. We need to stop turning a blind eye and acting like some women don't have agency and its okay to bring children into poverty.

Eh, Singapore has homeless people too you know, infact with it being such a wealthy city the rich get richer which makes the poor poorer. Im not sure where or who's told you of this magical place but i think you'll find that homelessness, like in many of our major cities, is equally a problem for those in Singapore and Finland.

Those making good choices tend to make those choices in what career path to choose, what friends they choose, the partner they choose, make the choice to marry a good man, the choice to demand a good salary, the choice to put off having a family until secure.

These desisions are what will untimately protect them from living on the streets, choosing to use drugs, or have babies come what may.

Choices.

Every one of the kids of a single mother either has a living father or had one at some point. The women who pick up the pieces and actually care for their kids are always the ones getting the blame.

There is a severe lack of affordable housing in this country, women and children are those hardest hit.

Well @Idaho999 I can safely ignore everything you say because you have no idea about homelessness.

Crack a book.

Yes there are going to be people who have made poor life choices. I wonder why that is though. Not everyone has the best start in life and some people are very poorly educated and/or don't know how to manage money. Some people make decisions that they think are right but turn out to be wrong, be it through an obvious outcome or circumstances changing. Then there are those people who perhaps were well off or who could afford children and it all went wrong.

Nothing is black and white. There will certainly be people who made wrong choices and knew what they were doing, but the children shouldn't suffer. We need a better system than this.

I think some posters on here are forgetting or not appreciating that successful life choices depend upon a good mental health status. Unfortunately along with a degradation in housing and financial status we have also suffered a decline in mental health services ( all due to yourselves who probably voted Tory!)

Some posters on this thread are vile. Shame on you.

MrsTerryPratchett is correct - I can confirm that people at risk of homelessness in Finland are housed (so that they can find work and take part in education), and children are not kept in shipping containers whatever their parents' choices.

It depends on the circumstances, I've seen specialist containers used as housing and they were really nice, certainly better than a b&b, think good quality mobile home, for a mum with one or 2 kids they would be a decent home. Converted offices depends upon how they were converted! We have lots of converted factories here that are very desirable. The problem is that there's a certain % of people who cannot support their families, for a few it is due to disabilities, tragedy etc but for others it's a case of not earning enough and absent parents not paying towards the cost. London in particular is very expensive, we moved to afford to live a decent life. The problem with articles like this is that it broadly seems surprised by the situation yet doesn't examine why people are in temporary housing, generally it's because they had a landlord who sold the property they rented or they got into arrears. I don't have a solution, we need to help those who cannot work (disabilities, recent bereavement and provide meaningful training opportunities to those in low paid employment so they will not need support in the future as a start (some young people do not engage with school, they need a second change to get qualifications when they are emotionally ready)

Are these shipping containers and office blocks that have been converted into housing? This has been happening for years. My ex lives in an appartment that was part of an office block, he says its fine. There are big office blocks that have been converted into flats in my nearest town. There's no container city in the town but there is one in London, it's viable housing.

Ps I work on a project for the homeless and vulnerably housed, every single participant has made bad choices, it's not a blame game but there's a lot of backstories - whether it's alcohol, drugs or gambling that person chose that lifestyle initially.

It must be wonderful to be perfect and never make a bad decision!

Converted office blocks and shipping containers can offer perfectly good housing - if done properly. Shipping containers being used is particularly practical. Due to imports we have an excess of containers in this country, many single use. They are structurally very strong and designed to stack, this makes them ideal in areas where land is a premium - ie city centres. A good designer can make a stunning home from a shipping container.

Containers are a far better option than a b&b and offer a long term solution to a major housing problem.

Shipping containers per say aren’t that bad. It’s a legitimate eco-friendly housing option in the States, plenty of nice houses and even shops constructed from them.

I agree FormerMediocreMale. Maybe shipping containers are not ideal for long term housing but are adequate as a temporary measure and articles like this will just deter local authorities from adapting and using those spaces.

I dont know of any women who wake up one day and 'find' themselves in this position.

Lucky you

every single participant has made bad choices, it's not a blame game but there's a lot of backstories - whether it's alcohol, drugs or gambling that person chose that lifestyle initially.

It is, though, isn' t it? Have you never wondered what leads a person to make these "bad choices"?