16 Year old benefits

su4stu

marywooyeah wrote: »

makes me want to scream! I work so hard in a crappy job and have to be away from my DS 3 days a week . My partner runs himself ragged in a well paid job and we do all the money saving tips, I cook from scratch most nights spending a tenner a week at the local market and barely make enough to cover the bills. we rent privately £450 a month.no housing benefit nothing. to know that stupid girls barely out of school who can't keep their legs shut will get everything paid for them. Disgusting.

I just had to reply to this message as it really upset me. My DD fell pregnant at 15, and yes, maybe she should have kept her legs shut as you so eloquently put it but accidents happen and I'm sure she isn't the only 15 year old to have sex. Anyhow to cut a long story short, she had a beautiful little girl in May and is not asking the government for a penny. She is going to college next year to retake her standard grades and then hopefully go on to do a course in beauty therapy. Meanwhile I am a very proud granny and myself and my husband are supporting the two of them. No its not ideal but please don't make such a sweeping statement about young mums, it makes you sound like the stupid one.:mad:

thorsoak

su4stu wrote: »

I just had to reply to this message as it really upset me. My DD fell pregnant at 15, and yes, maybe she should have kept her legs shut as you so eloquently put it but accidents happen and I'm sure she isn't the only 15 year old to have sex. Anyhow to cut a long story short, she had a beautifull little girl in May and is not asking the government for a penny. She is going to college next year to retake her standard grades and then hopefully go on to do a course in beauty therapy. Meanwhile I am a very proud granny and myself and my husband are supporting the two of them. No its not ideal but please don't make such a sweeping statement about young mums, it makes you sound like the stupid one.:mad:

I don't want to upset people like you and your daughter - hers was obviously an unplanned pregnancy, you've supported her, and your daughter is planning on a self-funding future.

I expressed concern at the thought of a 16-year old having a "planned pregnancy and wanting the best for her baby" - and at the same time asking about what benefits she was ENTITLED to!

NASA_2

busy_mom wrote: »

Yea they are moving the age down to 7 eventually but can you honestly not see some of them just getting pregnant again?
The very limited restrictions set on them protect them from ever really having to do anything so does it really matter what benefit they are claiming?
Have you ever tried to send a lone parent to DMA for not actively seeking, they are thrown out every time.

That's true but at least people on jobseekers have to get off their !!!!!! every two weeks in order to get their money. Income Support, for lone parents, simply requires having a kid and not having a job.

leveller2911

This thread just re-enforces all that is wrong with this country.

How low we have dropped as a nation.We are the only country in the civilised world that supports 16 yr old KIDS having children.

To say the pregnancy was "well planned" at 16 is nothing short of perverse.
The taxpayer should'nt have to pay a penny to these people,if theyre old enough to have a baby then theyre old enough to support it.

For years and especially the last 12yrs successive governments have failed miserably to address the situation.
The only solution has already been stated, you dont get a penny from the state until you've paid in.In my opinion the amount of financial help you do get should be linked to your NI stamps.........

Im not normally a gambling man but I would put a few quid on the dad not being around for long.Its not spite its called REALITY...

Guess this thread will get locked any time now.:rolleyes:

chewmylegoff

Doodles22 wrote: »

Thanks for all yor replies, in fact the father lives with the girl who is pregnant, they don't claim housing benefit and rent privately.
There a nice couple, engaged and stable, so for everyone thinking its another teen pregnancy, its not, its been well planned and they are wanting the best for there child.

it is another teen pregnancy - because she is a teen.

and as for it being well planned - if they need to claim benefits to support the child, it's obviously been very poorly planned, as they couldn't afford to have a child in the first place.

still, i'm sure you and they see it as a right, rather than a privilege.

marywooyeah

su4stu wrote: »

I just had to reply to this message as it really upset me. My DD fell pregnant at 15, and yes, maybe she should have kept her legs shut as you so eloquently put it but accidents happen and I'm sure she isn't the only 15 year old to have sex. Anyhow to cut a long story short, she had a beautiful little girl in May and is not asking the government for a penny. She is going to college next year to retake her standard grades and then hopefully go on to do a course in beauty therapy. Meanwhile I am a very proud granny and myself and my husband are supporting the two of them. No its not ideal but please don't make such a sweeping statement about young mums, it makes you sound like the stupid one.:mad:

I'm glad that your daughter is well looked after and cared for by you and your husband and of course accidents happen, I'm glad for your daughter that her situation turned out well. It's brilliant that she is continuing her education, undoubtedly to make a better future for her and her daughter by training for a career, yes?
What I am disgusted at in the OP is the same as a lot of other people on here are aswell: the fact that she PLANNED to get pregnant at 16 and her mother is asking what benefits she is ENTITLED to.
If you plan to have a baby you need to know how you are going to support that child. Planning to raise a baby on benefits is frankly wrong, she will be relying on the state to provide for them, a state which she has never paid tax into.

As for the OP stating that they pay their own rent etc are they going to be able to continue to do so once the baby is born? as for a stable relationship at 16 I sincerely hope for her daughter and grandchild's sake that this is the case otherwise the country has one more single teenage mum to suppourt, although she would get more benefits then wouldn't she?

gizmo111

A relaive of mine fell pregnant at age 15, the father was just 16, had no qualifications and was unemployed. They had to wait until she was 16 to get married at 4 months pregnant, they had a white wedding and everybody over the age of 12 frowned and said it would never work out and she would be reliant on benefits and nothing more than a scrounger etc etc.

15 years later they have 5 children the youngest being 3, each child has been planned much to the despair of both sets of parents ,they are still together and he has built a career in the building trade, she has just returned to college to take her GCSE's to hopefully take up nursing training via an access course.

Nothing has been easy for these two and there have been times especially in the early days when they were just kids themselves and they had to rely on benefits. None of their own children have ever missed a days school for any reason other than illness, and this is one of the happiest families that I have ever come across.

Not all teen pregnancies mean disaster and a life on benefits, and whilst the OP is being naturally protective about the young people concerned and comes across in a manner that offends some people on this forum, she never asked for opinions on the situation just practical advice on what they may be entitled to. It would be nice if that was all she received.

bunny999

The_MoneySavingKid wrote: »

Believe it or not,she is.

She is contributing by having a child,by where people normally choose to wait until 30 and others choose not to whatsoever.
So she is contributing to the UK population.

The UK is overpopulated and the last thing we need is another generation of benefit scroungers.

The_MoneySavingKid

busy_mom wrote: »

If you can't afford them don't have them.:rolleyes:

Then that logic could be applied to the rest of life.So we should have no debts....

The_MoneySavingKid

bunny999 wrote: »

The UK is overpopulated and the last thing we need is another generation of benefit scroungers.

I'm pretty sure that is because people are living longer.
Not because vast numbers of children born is high.