child poverty

Stoke Sentinel
Starving children are eating from bins in Fenton
July 2, 2014

Hollings Street
and
Brocksford Street
area of Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent

On their way to school, kids are bin-dipping for food.

This even though dozens of hungry families are referred to Fenton's food bank every week.

Food banks only grant 3 vouchers a year from recommended sources like Jobcentres (after they've sanctioned a claimant off all money with no other income), Citizen Advice Centres, Social Services, schools.

Obviously this school does not have a breakfast club, which is odd is such a poor part of England, even recognised by the EU.

Stoke council just voted themselves a 9 per cent rise in their expenses for their 44 councillors. While giving their basic council staff on minimum wage only a £1 per hour wage rise, after a 3 year wage freeze and cutting rights to overtime.

It is the working poor and the over one million poor pensioners who majority who go to food banks, who do not realise they could be eligible for pension credit (ask Citizens Advice help quick as Pension credit ends from April 2016).

Working poor in newspapers are seen to have only around £20 per week after household bills and such as council tax for food for the family. Working poor are on stagnated wages to the value of those in 2002.

Pensioners with only £11 per week for food after household bills, tax and fuel costs.

WHO WILL LOSE ALL STATE PENSION FROM 2016
THAT IS FOOD MONEY
This will be the fate of:

married wives / widows / divorcees
born on or after 6 April 1953
who lost state pension payout at 60 from 2013,

And to

Every man born on or after 6 April 1951
who also fall into the flat rate pension scheme by raised retirement age, who at the moment get a basic state pension even if
only 12 months NI credits,
but not from 2016 if less than 10 years NI credits.

I used to work in education welfare and spent a lot of time visiting homes where children didn't have the best start. Parents were 3rd generation unemployed. Parents did not even see the benefit of education or the need even to get to school on time.
Schools knew who the vulnerable children were, they often were given free places to breakfast clubs etc and support offered to parents. If there were serous concerns they would be referred to children's social care.
You did the right thing flowerfest. Child protecting concerns should always be reported.

You are so right, Gill. I get a little bit of contributory UK pension over here in Australia, 'cos much of my working life was in Australia and NZ. Both my DH and I worked and paid rather large taxes for decades here, which means we get the Oz pension without question.

We are lucky in that we don't have as deeply entrenched a class system here as back home, so our politicians sound like, and look like the rest of us. They are easy to access too. Not that it helps much.

They use the expression 'Aussie battlers' as well as 'hard working families' a lot here. But it is all the same rhetoric; trying to get us to feel we are being listened to.

We're not.

And another thing.....when the government talk about the 'welfare budget' being something unmanageable like 45% of public spending, they are disingeniously including pensions in that figure, and I for one do not think that something I will have contributed to from the age of 18 to 66(thanks for the extra 6 years) is a benefit it is an insurance that working people have contributed to. This may or may not be the place to bring in another part of the argument, but if more people paid the tax they should then perhaps the people who need a bit of help wouldn't be vilified for needing that help. what about making foreign investors pay capital gains tax on the massive profits they make on London properties? And forcibly seize and sell those houses in Bishops Avenue in Hampstead that are sitting and rotting, roofs falling in .And if I hear one more MP use the phrases all in this together or hard working families I shall scream.

Yes our indebtedness has a lot to do with having to bail out some massive banks and the big dip in tax take in the months following those events. We have not felt the full impact of the cuts yet, but everyone seems agreed that the richest people in the country have not "been all in it together" as Osborne would have us believe. The cuts that are still going to bite into NHS budgets are terrifying.
It is not realistic to think that we can stop immigration and relocate lots of poor people and their dependents into the south east to fill the vacant jobs there. Which is what you would have to do.

jendurham - 'And have you looked up about the right to food, Ana?'

Yes I have. I don't think it told me anything I didn't already know.

I think it might be time to remember what started the recession and general panic about the country's finances. It was banks, not the unemployed or the poorly paid, or the people on zero hours contracts, or the people with one spare bedroom in their rented homes, or the parents with more than one child. It was the banks with their cavalier disregard for anything but immediate and unrealistic profits and their idiotic toxic debts.

It might also be worth remembering that food inflation over the last five years is about 30%.

What a distressing letter! She's an inspirational young woman. I would like to see Edwina Currie's reply - can't stand the woman and her politics.

Wow, JessM. I have read a lot about Jack Monroe, but haven't come across that before, although I saw the programme.
That letter made me go all cold, and like GillT says, so angry.
The problem is that the people who need to read it will not. And if they do, they will just put it down to one person, whereas the www.stupidsanctions.tumblr.com website shows it is not so.

JessM, I followed the link you posted, and I was angrier than I have ever been in my life. I have never been a fan of Edwina Currie, but boy has she shown her true colours, vile, ignorant woman. And as for cactus60, I am saddened that a hard working person such as you obviously are, should be spewing out such vile statements based on ignorance and prejudice. Do you truly believe that people who lose their job should be in The Workhouse? Maybe they should hand their children over to 'more deserving' families? after they have sold all their possessions of course. Shame on you for being so judgemental. I know this is not a forum for arguments and attack, but having read this entire posting, I am horrified at your lack of basic humanity.

Oh dear, it is saddening to see some contributors making personal jibes.
Within a reasoned debate no matter how much you disagree with one persons point of view, it is inappropriate to make it a personal issue. Please, beg to differ and back up with counter claims, but don't spoil the debate by getting personal ��

Thanks Petallus. I've given these issues a lot of thought over the years.

Joan I do so agree with what you say.

JessM that is so relevant.
It is so difficult to know how these sorts of situations can be resolved.
Maybe we really ought to shut the doors to the UK for a while to put our house in order with regard to job placements and demand a living wage and free child care.
I can't understand how the UK can be the 7th richest and still the 16th most indebted in the world at the same time something doesn't ring true to me.

Conversely, we all know those who use and abuse the system and (I wish they had the morals not to) really spoil it for those who are actually in desperate need. I am not sure that a referral by a GP or SW can be an accurate measure of actual need, but how do you means test apparent hunger?

agirlcalledjack.com/2014/02/04/dear-edwina-thankyou-for-last-night-i-hope-it-was-as-good-for-you-as-it-was-for-me-bigbenefitsrow/
In case you missed this, when I posted it on another thread...
Jack Monroe eloquently describes what it is like to be poor in the Uk today. How ever clever, determines and resourceful you are (and she appears to be all three), your benefits don't always get paid and if you have not got family to bale you out...

There are some scary views on here, plus a lot of common sense. This quote from Cactus: '^After all you shouldn't have kids if you cant pay for them. Why should people have kids for the taxpayer to keep^.' really upset me. What should we do - issue licences to breed? Oh and Cactus's Aunt has views that are truly evil and not worth repeating.

More and more people with children are going to find themselves in financial difficulties as they lose well-paid jobs and have to manage on a lot less, especially here in Australia where manufacturing industries are vanishing daily with nothing to replace them. They may well have all the luxuries, for now, but as time goes on they will have less and less.

I had the luxury of a clever, hardworking Mum, who taught me how to shop, clean, sew, knit, budget and cook. Although she and Dad were very intelligent, they only had ordinary jobs, as was the case for working class people born over 100 years ago. Mum cleaned and cooked for people, Dad was a foreman spinner.

So after I was long married and we hit the hard times ourselves, we coped. How can I compare myself to people who had no such training, no such example? .

Yes, people who rant and swear at their kids, buy junk food, cigs and booze, and then cry poor, annoy us all. But that is no reason to deny that poverty exists, or to put all struggling families in the same category.

Joelsnan, do you think the reason that the Northeast has the lowest number of foodbanks is because the cost of living is lower, therefore they can afford more food on poverty wages?
I live halfway between Consett and Durham, and I see the extremes.
We also have fewer centres of population. You just have to look at a map to see how few towns there are in Northumberland and Durham.

Anyone who wants to know why there are so many people needing to go to foodbanks, read this
stupidsanctions.tumblr.com/

Joelsnan, another link for you. I find this absolutely appalling.
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2014/02/21/charging-for-benefit-appeals-is-no-accident-it-is-the-neoliberal-way/
It makes me really despair.

And have you looked up about the right to food, Ana?

I used to read thegreenbenches quite a lot, Joelsnan, but for some reason it's difficult on my laptop. Been like that for months, I do not know why.
Yes, Gillybob, these days families tend to be spread out and it's not so easy to help out. It's also possible for two generations to be in the same position of not being able to help, unfortunately, because of unemployment, having been made redundant.
My grandmother helped my parents buy their house. My parents were not in a position to help their children, but we have helped both our sons at one time or another. Neither of them, fortunately has been in the position of not being able to afford food for their families. However, one of them works for a local authority and has to apply for his own job every year. I think that is appalling. It leads to insecurity. At least he is not on a zero hours contract, like many local authority workers, and others.

Lurking? No, just reading the threads, and actually contributing to some others, durhamjen.

I have to agree with durhamjen's post of 21:10:28. I find the remark by cactus60 to be quite nasty and her (90 year old) auntie should hang her head in shame with her views straight from Charles Dickens ! My son and (common law) DiL are not married. They have been together a long time (through thick and thin) they have three children and both work bloody hard for small wages. They do not live in a council house (well technically it is an ex-council house they bought) and they do not get hand outs either (except from other members of the family who are happy to be able to help out). My grandma will be 98 this year and has (thankfully) the complete opposite opinion of catsus's (rather nasty in MHO) auntie. She has had a hard life believe you me but she would never want to bring back the times of workhouses .

And finally cactus60 I find your term "whining brats" horrible to say the least.

Thanks Durhamjen
The paper below is interesting because it shows that the regions with the highest levels of unemployment (and one would imagine the highest levels of poverty)are actually the regions with the lowest numbers of food banks...

www.greenbenchesuk.com/2014/01/food-bank-britain-report-by-eoin-clarke.html

Just in case you are still lurking, Ana, I did not say you were not capable, I said I did not expect you to look it up.
What did you expect me to say when you said ,"Oh dear..." because I mentioned a European commissioner?

This is the best link I can find for what you want, Joelsnan.
Opendemocracy gives lots of links to other sites.
https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/samir-jeraj/food-bank-nation-women-in-home-poor-on-streets&sa=U&ei=380HU96xLIzJsgb8-IDQCg&ved=0CAoQFjAC&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHy0vDhI3wpenN3Jlgg5oFM9SX_zA

People cannot just go to foodbanks; they have to be referred by GPs, the church or social services. Quite often they go because they have had all their money stopped for a variety of reasons. You can find out lots about those reasons on the Falseeconomy website