Is EMA Fair???

System

I'm not keen on EMA. It was introduced when i was in year 13 so not entitled to it, i got a part time job instead. As my younger sisters has done (worked since she was 15) and my other sister plans to as well. The thing that gets me is that in the years before me, people managed, people still went to 6th form, people still got A Levels. And an awful lot of the kids who got EMA never needed it for travel costs (etc), it was just pocket money for doing what the rest of us did for free.

ultimatedingbat

Personally EMA is a joke. It avoids so many circumstances. I went to a college out of my local area so I was paying a fortune in travel expenses most other students didnt have to pay out.
I didn't get EMA and my parents certainly couldnt afford to give me £30 a week as they both work full time, and I have a younger sister and we still just scrape by.
Now I was a lucky one, my college agreed with me that I was screwed and couldn't afford to get to college without a bit of help, so they awarded me a scholorship that covered my bus fairs with a little bit extra left over to cover other expenses.

On the flip side, a family member whos parents are more well enough, have alot of savings and a caravan, did get EMA because her income was below the threshhold, only because of a few minor details. That annoyed me.

kinglm

<rant> From personal experience I have to say that the system for awarding EMA is a complete joke.

At school I know that all my peers in receipt of EMA spent it as additional pocket money, going towards the worthy educational supplements of booze, fags, designer clothing and high end electronics. One particular friend was getting the full rate of EMA because his dad had taken early retirement after deciding he had enough money and wanted to enjoy himself. Not exactly the most worthy cause is it? Now I know that none of the people were on scholarships or bursaries and considering that the school fees were in the range of £15,000 a year, fail to see how someone who can afford those fees (along with a more than acceptable lifestyle) could be seen by the government to be in need of EMA.

A better use for the money would be to give it to the universities which are groaning under the weight of students (thanks to our labour government deciding that University is the right path for everyone to take), being expected to compete with U.S. universities on a fraction of the budget.

Before anyone starts flaming me on behalf of the minority of people who actually deserve and need EMA, I acknowledge that some form of support network needs to be put in place to prevent ambitious individuals from poorer backgrounds being kept out of post-16 education by the costs, but that doesn't mean this system is the one to use as it's open to exploitation and misses out some of the people who need it. </rant>

Oldernotwiser

kinglm wrote: »

Now I know that none of the people were on scholarships or bursaries and considering that the school fees were in the range of £15,000 a year, fail to see how someone who can afford those fees (along with a more than acceptable lifestyle) could be seen by the government to be in need of EMA.

Financial criteria for receiving EMA are quite tight so I can't see how anybody paying £15,000 pa school fees could receive it. Either your friends were lying or someone else (grandparents?) must have been paying their fees.

Jakg

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Financial criteria for receiving EMA are quite tight so I can't see how anybody paying £15,000 pa school fees could receive it. Either your friends were lying or someone else (grandparents?) must have been paying their fees.

Savings?

I know someone whose parents have a large property portfolio - they dont live off the interest or rent them out, they just own houses and sell one every now and again and so their child is eligible for EMA.

kinglm

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Financial criteria for receiving EMA are quite tight so I can't see how anybody paying £15,000 pa school fees could receive it. Either your friends were lying or someone else (grandparents?) must have been paying their fees.

From what I understand, in the friend I use as an example's case, his father managed to build up quite hefty savings before taking early retirement and living a relaxed life. In most of the other cases I believe the parents were seperarted and the household income was taken to be the lower income parent, while the higher income parent still payed for fees.

Oldernotwiser

Jakg wrote: »

Savings?

I know someone whose parents have a large property portfolio - they dont live off the interest or rent them out, they just own houses and sell one every now and again and so their child is eligible for EMA.

Duh! I always forget that some people have savings!

nad1611

atypical wrote: »

This is the saddest thing. Education should be sold on its intrinsic values, not on the value of £x a week.


Come on lets starting living in the real world not an idealistic one. Of course Education in itself should be enough of a drive, but if the intrinsic value of education hasn't come from the parents then where's it going to come from. If £30 a week means that even a handful of people realise their true worth then I say it's worth it.

My husband is a good example of where EMA could have saved him from a lifetime of job dissatisfaction. In the 1970's with no qualifications whatsoever was accepted purely on interview onto a college course, he was over the moon as he saw a way out of the life he'd been raised within. His delight was short lived when his parents told him they weren't happy to support him and he'd have to get a job iinstead. His attitude at 16 was if they don't care what's the point in my doing so. If he'd been able to tell his parents that he would get a weekly amount equivelant to the £30 given now there's a real chance they might have allowed him to go to College instead he's sitting in a job he hates unable to retrain as I am unwell.

My daughters received EMA top rate and are both now at University. The middle one having got A A B C in Maths Biology Psychology and English and is now studying Psychology.

The £30 a week they got also allowed us to continue to receive child benefit and WTC so that the financial burden was lifted, it also meant that they had a certain amount of independence, but I can assure you that most of the money went on travel.

bujin

Whether inrentional or not bumpoowee you do have a rather damning tone when discussing these "chavs". You know nothing of their lives that might make them appear" braindead".Chavs don't have the monopoly in being braindead!! Have you ever been into some of their homes with the lack of conversation and stimulation you might find you looked pretty braindead too. The fact that they are for whatever reason turning up at college and have tutors who actually encourage and care about them and their future, it's probably the last chance for many of them.

I agree it's in no way a fullsafe system but when it comes to benefits it's pretty much on a par with every other benefit in terms of people being able to get what they aren't really entitled to. At least this benefit does help a minority maybe, but I'm happy to pay for it, we all benefit in the end.

ceebeeby

simpywimpy wrote: »

I thought the OP was particularly unfair to brand all low income kids under the same banner of useless/cant be bothered types

Errrr ... where exactly does it say that in my post???