Age 7 government child trust fund payments not being released!!!

MissMoneypenny

Deepmistrust wrote: »

I never understand that when inflation is calculated it excludes house prices. Given that they are probably most peoples single biggest expense.

It was all part of Labours fiddle with the fiqures, to try to make people believe they were running the country well.

Deepmistrust

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

When you consider how much cheaper imported goods are now and then add in the fact that we now have ebay, freegle and freecycle, £100 to £500 is a massive rise. Fags are more expensive now though.

I'm not convinced importing cheap foreign goods, and telling poor people to buy them, is actually the answer in the bigger picture, to be honest.

It probably is above inflation, however that's called progress. We've extended paid maternity leave in recent years too.

Deepmistrust

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

It was all part of Labours fiddle with the fiqures, to try to make people believe they were running the country well.

I think inflation has always been calculated this way. I don't think labour are any different in this respect.

jellytot61

DaisyFlower wrote: »

Most claimants dont actually spend it on food though, it buys the latest design buggy etc.

If they really wanted to encourage healthy eating, it should have been in voucher form weekly rather than a cash lump sum. Or they could have worked with farmers and arranged for box deliveries therefore benefitting local farms and the mother to be.

As cash lumo sums both this grant and the surestart one should be scrapped, the parents should provide the pram, cot etc not the state/tax payers.

what £190 buys the 'latest designer buggy' have you bought a buggy lately?

i am currently 8 months pregnant and yes i did claim the hip grant and no i didnt go out and spend it on fruit but over the last few months of being pregnant i have spent a damn sight more on healthy eating, vitamins etc. i work full time and am not entitled to any other benefits and i do think the ctf being scrapped is a shame for everyone not just for those who claim benefits.

and those of you that think by axing ctf will prevent increases in taxes and national insurance and save our schools and nhs-just wait and see..... i work for the nhs and there are cut backs already being implemented!!!

many people seem to forget what labour actually did do for this country for our nhs and for our schools...

MissMoneypenny

JPS29 wrote: »

Good old Tories.

Smacks of Thatcherism. She was the milk snatcher and this lot are now removing CTF's. We're in for a great 5 years...........

We are having to make cuts because of Labour and the massive debts they have got this country in. In 1997 we had a model economy and in 13 years Blair/Brown have turned that into the worst uk economy in peacetime!

Anyway..milk...we were forced to drink that milk. I remember clearly the smell of sick in the classroom as many a child threw up.

Labour stole money from children. It was one of the first things Brown did.

Children were encouraged to save their birthday and christmas money with Building Society clubs and were then rewarded with shares. Divs on shares are paid with tax taken off and it [STRIKE]is[/STRIKE] was up to the parent to claim the childs tax back (as they didn't earn enough money to pay tax). Gordon came in and said the children couldn't have their tax back.

Can you get any lower than stealing from children? A sign of things to come I suppose as it wasn't many years later that Gordon was using tax payers money to fund a legal team to stop us finding out how much the MPs claimed in expenses.

Deepmistrust

:T

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Nowhere in my post did I say that all on low incomes were chavs.

"I get a little bit tired of people ranting on about 'poor' children. There is no need for children to be poor in the UK. If they have chavvy parents who would rather spend money on themselves then their children, then throwing money at them is not going to help - they will just spend that on themselves too."

I was referring to the particular type of parent who did not want to spend money on their children. I did not say ALL low-income families were like this.

So why make the connection? I think it's common knowledge there will always be a minority like you describe, no matter what is done. I have no idea why you appear to complain about benefits, as if they are targetted at layabouts. They are not, the vast majority of those that receive financial assistance, do so, because they are on low incomes. Why does every conversation about benefits result in someone picking up on a minority of layabouts? They are irrelevant to any meaningful debate about whether certain benefits for low income families should or should not exist.

I have also pointed out that we brought up our son for the first few years of his life on a very low income (this was long before the days of tax credits et al, and even after those years, our income, although increased, was not huge) and therefore do have knowledge of what it is like. Great, I don't get your point here? You were once on a low income without help and survived, so everyone else should be exactly as you were?

It is not asking too much imho to expect any low-income family to be able to buy seasonal fruit and veg for their children, or if they have a garden, to grow them. It might mean they have to compromise in other areas of life, but it is certainly not too difficult. It's like a dictatorship on here - if we're not telling poor people they should have designated vouchers, we're telling them to grow their food instead. If people have the available space (I'm from London, most low income families live in high rises near where I was brought up) and are not too busy working all hours and raising families and have the spare outdoor space, and enjoy it, then good for them...if not, well they can shop cheap enough for fruit and veg, a recent study found it cheaper to buy cheap fruit and veg from the supermarket than grow your own

I hope to God the self-righteous brigade never need help one day.

skelt6or

We should be allowed to move the fund to a cash ISA or something to avoid it being locked in to a terrible rate!

ultrawomble

Deepmistrust wrote: »

I hope to God the self-righteous brigade never need help one day.

Indeed. Strangely enough, it would seem that some of them have had help in the past but want to deny it to others now.

MissMoneypenny

Deepmistrust wrote: »

:T
If people have the available space (I'm from London, most low income families live in high rises near where I was brought up) and are not too busy working all hours and raising families and have the spare outdoor space, and enjoy it, then good for them...if not, well they can shop cheap enough for fruit and veg, a recent study found it cheaper to buy cheap fruit and veg from the supermarket than grow your own.

Grow in pots. A 99p B&Q bucket, some soil and 1 courgette seed will keep a family in courgettes all summer: much, much cheaper than the supermarket. Homegrown tomatoes, herbs and salad leaves, much cheaper than the supermarkets too.

I gave some tomato plants to someone who lives in a flat and they are growing well. The pots/buckets can be reused year after year, so it gets even cheaper to grow our own. If you go to a carboot, people are selling their spare veggie plants very cheap.

Switch off the tv, plant the seeds and water them with the children, as a family thing to do together.

Deepmistrust

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

Grow in pots. A 99p B&Q bucket, some soil and 1 courgette seed will keep a family in courgettes all summer: much, much cheaper than the supermarket. Homegrown tomaotes, herbs and tomaotoes much cheaper than the supermarkets too. I gave some tomato plants to someone who lives in a flat and they are growing well.

Switch off the tv, plant the seeds and water them with the children, as a family thing to do together.

With respect, I think you completely missed my point.

Great, if they have the space, even pots can take valuble space, especially if a family is already living in overcrowded accomodation. And if they want to. The financial benefit of 'growing your own', is, for many people negative. Many of them haven't the first clue, or even interest in growing their own. Maybe the kids don't like courgette, prefering carrots, cabbage and brocolli even? Perphaps not all low income families watch TV all day, perhaps they already do other things with their families? Just a thought?

Maybe your post is more suited to the 'money saving tips' section, as opposed to a debate on CTF's and Surestart grants.