Everything - well nearly everything - is right in this country

There is no such thing as equality and the gap is widest of all in third world and developing countries. India you have fabulous wealth alongside total destitution. There are always going to be those that for one reason or another are poor, food banks are now widespread, even in my very upmarket town. The basics of food are cheap enough, it’s housing, heating and transport that is too expensive along with unreliable low wages, so of course people will use them.

I’m not sure where the figure 135000 children homeless comes from, maybe those in temporary accommodation. That’s a housing problem, are we ever going to solve that with the population increasing by 250000 each year?.

Well forgive me if I I’m wrong but I thought it was the job of parents to provide housing for their children not the State.

Only have children if you can afford them.

WHY is it necessary to make such an obvious statement ?

david figures from Shelter

On way to West London shopping centre we passed a person who had fallen on the pavement. We were going to pull over to help but then realised that someone was already by her, a large 4x4 had stopped just beyond and a dustcart had pulled up opposite and a young dustman in a high viz jacket was sprinting across the road to help. We felt we would be in the way and carried on, but what wonderful humanity was shown there! Sure it would happen in other countries too, but it was good to see it here. ?

opal This was a lovely thread and a pleasure to read all the positive posts, but now WWM2 has popped up with all her political negativity, and turned it into something quite different. I came on here to get away from her comments on other threads. Sigh.

While I agree the UK is a lovely place to live, it is not great for everyone.

For example. I have to move abroad to earn enough to save for a pension, because I won't have my UK pension until 67 (and possibly older, given recent talk of 75).

In China, where I have previously lived, YES, they suffer with the pollution and do not have the freedoms we have, BUT women there retire at 50.

So. I'm enjoying my last month in the UK. The clean air, the good food, my family. BUT it isn't nirvana.

Opal says to ignore the doom mongers. I was wondering whether to report them for going off thread
Can I add bread and butter pudding to the food list.

For what it's worth...I live in the North East and I love the coastline, the history and heritage of the area.
I like standing at a bus stop and chatting to people. I love our libraries and museums.
I work in criminal justice and for all the faults in our system, it is one of the best in the world, I believe!
I like seeing the best in people who have helped those in trouble.

“Only have children if you can afford then”

We would all like Utopia, that does not exist anywhere, in the UK the system encourages more children, there is lots of help for women with children and a single parent with kids goes to the top of the council housing list.
Her sister with no kids will work long and hard to get the same housing renting privately.

The figure of 135,00 children WW2 quotes from Shelter, includes those in temporary accommodation.

Thank you Opal for such an uplifting thread, despite the moaners, some people will never be happy!
I have enjoyed reading all the positive vibes and agree with them, we are very lucky to live here.

Only have children if you can afford them - quite right! And of course only have food if you can afford it; only have heating if you can afford it; only have a roof over your head if you can afford it.

And if you cannot afford these: get thee to a gutter and die quietly, and do not disturb the peace of those who have the good fortune to be comfortably off.

Luckygirl

yep

Manners. People all over the world love how polite we are ?
I mentioned this subject to 2 of the volunteers in the charity shop where I work. These 2 women really are on their uppers but both agree that they wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Next door to my daughter there is an Albanian family, their youngest son is severely autistic. Not only is she amazed that there is a school for her son to attend but truely truely grateful to myself and my daughter for helping her with the bureaucracy involved with getting transport to this school.
She can't believe how lucky 'most' of us are.

This is not a political thread but I must reply to Luckygirl,

The examples you gave are not an appropriate comparison are they ?

We HAVE to have food. We HAVE to have some shelter. We HAVE to have some form of heating,

However, we don’t HAVE to have children if we are unable to provide for them .

I repeat...... Only have the children you can afford.

Back to the thread. I love the history here. Our castles are second to none and we have some magnificent stately homes cared for by the National Trust.

So much to be thankful for here.

BUT it isn't nirvana. Where is?

There are loads of great things about Great Britain. One thing which is really wonderful is that you get to make smug, snobby comments about poor people having too many children.

Gagajo that would be for middle class women in China I presume.

Other women have to leave their children behind with elderly relatives or abandon them to the streets to go to the cities to earn a pittance.
I don't think it is exactly Utopia there.

Especially if you are a Muslim woman or girl.

Isn't it just, inkcog? Victorian values at their finest.

People can end up in poverty due to redundancy, illness, an accident or an abusive relationship. Or just by being born into it. It doesn't mean they'll make bad parents. Or that the better off necessarily make good ones.

Great post inkcog

Having children is instinctive - atavistic - and a joy. But only for the well off it would seem.

Crazy thought.......some body might have children and very suddenly and rapidly through no fault of their own, things unravel.
Illness, loss of income, a serious of knocks... What are they to do?
Send them back?

Still, for sure there is much to celebrate in this fine land.

Goodness. Should we restrict someone's fertility now because through no fault of their own they may be poor?

Heaven forbid, we would be over run with the smug and wealthy like the Rees Moggs ?

What if people have children then fall ill or develop a disability or lose their job? Do we say- oh you can’t afford the children , hard luck you shouldn’t have had them? Well obviously some on here would. I’m sure they’d think workhouses were a good idea too.

Workhouses crystaltipps? Splendid idea, that'll teach them.