What counts as child poverty in the UK? Poll discussion

harryhound

A child without a father?!?

jackieb

J. A child sharing a room with someone of different gender
K. No annual holiday

We had 4 children when we were in 2 bedrooms. We eventually managed to afford to convert the loft to make another bedroom, but my youngest son and daughter still had to share until they were 10 and 7 (my daughter shared a bedroom with us until she was 5). We rarely ever go on holidays (last one was 6 years ago and we've never been abroad). We were most definitely not in poverty. We just couldn't afford a bigger house at the time. It wasn't ideal but they had a comfortable (but smallish) home. I'm shocked that anyone would consider these as a sign of poverty. A lot of people just expect too much and should just make the best of what they have and some think they're in poverty just because they can't keep up with the Joneses. I'm not saying poverty doesn't exist but some people are just bad at managing with what they have. Life's what you make it.

adrian_clark

harryhound wrote: »

A child without a father?!?

You've nailed it, exactly. There are too many women who have been abandoned and betrayed having to bring up children without the provision, protection and love of a husband. While there are tragic circumstances, such us widowhood, many men have proved to be cowards by running from their promises instead of persevering with sacrificial love, loyalty and commitment. What a privilege to be a husband and model to children how to love a woman well by treating her with value, dignity and respect until death us do part Our communities, supported by their government, could have a great impact on our children's future by supporting marriage:T , condemning adultery and holding to account those shameful men who would dare forsake a woman.

Bella56

Apparently my children are living in poverty.... goodness, they seem rather well-fed, well-dressed in their Ebay secondhand clothes, and well-nurtured. But, no separate rooms, and a host of other apparently unbearable circumstances. I am so appalled that this is "child poverty" in this country. Choice A is the only one that I can call poverty; the others can be down to personal choice or preferences, like a child not wanting to sleep in his own bed but co-sleeping instead, parents choosing warm cardies instead of cranking up the heating, etc etc etc. But - no parent willingly CHOOSES lack of food or shelter for their child. THAT is poverty.

adindas

In many cases, child poverty in the UK exist because of their parents.
People should stop having more children if they could not effort it.
Having children as many as possible and asking the society or government to take care of them should be discouraged ... It is not fair to the children and society ...

I have not seen any case defined as child poverty in the UK similar to those exist in the third world ....

ADINDAS

Kimitatsu

keycamp-reveller wrote: »

But it is not poverty, is it? It may be a slight disadvantage but it definitely is not poverty. This can be circumvented as libraries are open on Saturdays too

Thats if they can get to the library......buses in rural areas tend to run infrequently and are expensive. Now I know I am playing devils advocate here, but our education system is so heavily reliant on the internet now and children having access that whilst it may be a disadvantage to begin with, by the time they leave school it can affect the rest of their lives to such an extent that child poverty affects another generation.

Neddles wrote: »

I find the 'less than two pairs of shoes' bit odd.

Until my children started school (2 out of 3 of them so far), they only had/needed one pair of shoes. Even now, the older ones have a pair of school shoes and a pair of trainers. When well fitting shoes are so expensive and they grow out of them quickly, coupled with the fact that they ought not to be handed down to siblings, I'm not buying them more shoes than they can wear.

Have to agree Needles - my boys are at secondary school and STILL only have two pairs of shoes and some wellies, because my 13 year old has size 10 feet and they are still growing :eek:

Paul_Herring

No option for "none of the above"?

When you conflate things such as "A lack of food, shelter or clothing " with "Parents can’t afford to save £10+ a month for rainy days/retirement ", the former could be as a result, not of poverty, but (for example) lack of financial planning. Or abuse. i.e. nothing to do with poverty.

We're working with Save the Children on this

And I'm sure the results will be very educational.

rpb

Budget_mum wrote: »

"L. No laptop or internet access"

At the time of posting 57 people voted this as child poverty. It beggars belief.

It is clear from this poll that people have wildly different views of what "poverty" means. My wife and I had no telly for years. We have one now and the kids will watch junk on it until we kick them off. My son and daughter shared a room until we moved house - the only problems were the odd argument, which we'd have got with two sons as well. Internet you can get at the library - so what if a school sets homework that requires Internet - that doesn't redefine "poverty". My daughter was asked to bring in a digital camera for today's IT lesson - does that mean not having a digital camera puts you in poverty?!?

Ridiculous! I voted only for:

• "lack of food, shelter or clothing"
• "a home with no heating" (in this country - some countries are probably fine with no heating!) - note that heating other than "central heating" I consider acceptable, and
• "Parents can’t afford to save £10+ a month for rainy days/retirement" because without this there is a real risk of them being kicked out of their home, having power cut off, etc.

Everything else does not determine whether or not you are living in poverty.

Note that I use and understand the term "poverty" to mean "something bad that needs to be eradicated if at all possible" (i.e. "stamp out child poverty"). Therefore TVs, laptops, etc., don't count, and particular total income cutoff levels are also irrelevant because what matters is disposable income, not total income, and that depends on where they live, rent/mortgage levels, etc.

amberjet_2

I think it would be helpful to people not wanting another child if NHS guidelines didn't always recommend the least effective contraception (the pill) to couples.
I was refused other forms of contraception for 5 years because i was "too young" to go on IUD which is cheaper. It is a nightmare persuading a GP that you really don't want a 3 child family.

Parents can cause poverty for their children who have no control over the money. but without internet access they can't find this website and all its advise... ask where you would be without the tools on the web.
Poverty is also ignorance about money so if parents can't save then probably their child knows nothing about money.

Somethings which are fine for a small child are a problem with teenage children. By the same token there are rural issues and city ones.

A. A lack of food, shelter or clothing; grandparents and subsided uniforms are a great help. Don't judge a child with no coat I left mine at home when I walked to school or I got way to hot.
B. Family income below £12,700 a year (60% of the average); welsh ave 14,000.
C. A home with no heating; does this count when its never on? We collected twigs from the roadside on our walk home but never went cold; my friend had central heating and no fireplace her house was cold unless mother-in-law expected.
D. Parents can’t afford to save £10+ a month for rainy days/retirement; my single parent managed this on the dole but not whne she could get a job.
E. A child without their own bed; depends on their age and bed wetting status, in a cold house a bed mate is good (I still prefer a cat though).
F. No access to school trips (though often schools will subsidise); the one day events or those exchange things that took everyones grade up in language? I went to every historical site within bike ride distance of our home and learned for more than from school trips.
G. A family income below £10,500 a year (50% of the average); i think you should have put up the dole level for an average 2 adult 2 child household and see what people think.
H. Parents regularly behind with paying household bills; we paid the bills before buying food, some weeks we ate more than others. If on a weekly income negotiate so its one bill a week not all at once.
I. No TV; I still don't have one. Its fine if you have a libary or a PC, even a video player. What exactly do you get out of X-factor and telly-tubies that is such a great life lesson?
J. A child sharing a room with someone of different gender; I think this is really age dependant, its illegal for over 10s but i doubt a small child cares.
K. No annual holiday; do you count weekends with grandma? I did but she had a pool.:cool:
L. No laptop or internet access; dosen't have to be at home.
M. Kids that get free school meals; they never did me any harm, the green card at secondary school was worth £2.50 so learned to budget.

adindas

The root of Disadvantage Children in the UK (I would not call it child poverty) is the parents.

"Do not have the children if you could not effort to bring them up"

The pressure should be put on parents rather than to the State, Government, Society, etc.

ADINDAS