Food Poverty

Last week my community midwife told me that 4000 children in my town of Eastbourne go to bed hungry every night. 4000 in what I consider to be quite an affluent area of the country. I was horrified and saddened by the idea of a child, any child, going hungry but especially right on my doorstep. In this day and age, how is it acceptable for a child to not be eating? When we live in a world of excess.

She then went on to tell me that, as a community midwife, she's been in some of these homes (because apparently not being able to feed the children that you have doesn't stop some people from having more) and that quite often the parents aren't going without. Cigarettes, alcohol and (yes I know it's a cliche but...) giant televisions. I can believe it, too. When I was a college student I worked for Tesco and regularly accepted food tokens for milk and bread (which you are entitled to if you're on a very low income) and then would serve the same people cigarettes and cans of lager. I was never sure which shocked me the most aged seventeen; that they would rather smoke and drink than spend the little money that they had on the three children in tow, or that they had such a blatant lack of shame to make it so apparent by buying their personal items right after spending their government-funded benefits to feed their offspring.

Call me a cold, heartless, judgemental cow if you wish, but I don't believe it's right to be buying such luxuries if you have to rely on milk vouchers to feed the children you brought into the world. Children are purely a selfish experience, nobody HAS to have children in this day and age, the population will not die out if you don't reproduce, you are doing no service to the world...nobody NEEDS to have a baby but everyone should have the right to do so should they wish but surely it's only fair on them to do so only if you believe you have the means to take care of them properly.

I'm not saying that you should only have children if you can 'afford' them, none of us can plan for the bumps in the road that might lie ahead, and I can speak from personal experience of making a budget stretch, of looking at the contents of the fridge and worrying if we'll make it to the next food shop which is always on a very strict, fixed price of £50 a week for two adults, toddler and now a newborn.

So what do we do about this situation? This food poverty that is so, so real and right in front of our faces? Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver already tried to tackle the issue and received a lot of anger because of it (at least his heart was in the right place, as a parent, he couldn't bare the thought of children going hungry, of children suffering...it's not his fault he has absolutely no idea how to live on the breadline) and the BBC did a show a month or two ago about teaching people on limited incomes how to feed themselves well. Not one of the three chefs they featured could shop for a decent meal with the daily budget these people live on.

The Liberal Democrats have the right idea giving free school lunches to infant-school-age children as of next year. I know that a lot of people are negative, don't want them, etc. whatever. You don't have to accept them, you don't want the saving? Then carry on giving your child packed lunch, it's a personal choice. I saw someone wrote on Twitter at the time that they didn't want free school lunches as they had a hot meal at dinner time as a family. That's great but...am I the only person that thinks there's nothing wrong with two hot meals in a day? I often give Moo a hot lunch and a hot dinner (sometimes she'll have a hot breakfast of porridge too), am I doing something wrong?

But free lunches for 5-7 year-olds isn't going to save the world, more needs to be done, where do we start? I don't really know what to do on a national scale but I do know that there are already charities out there trying to help.

So I've decided that next month I'm going to do something about it. Next month I am going to apply to volunteer at my local food bank. I don't have a lot of money, I can't financially help anyone, but I can give my time, my experience and above all, myself. Christmas is coming, it's going to get busy there and I for one can't sit at home or out for coffee with my friends, essentially doing nothing, when I know what I know now.

I'd love to know your thoughts on everything I've talked about here today, good or bad...please comment below with them if you'd like to share them.

Clare

Working Benefits in Pregnancy

This is one of two posts going live today on the topic of benefits etc.

So in slight contrast to my other post today, in this one I'm going to be giving some very basic advice on working benefits if you're having your first baby. It can be an incredibly daunting time and not just financially, there is a lot of help out there for working families amd so I'm just going to summarise the basics in strait-forward language. I hope that you find it helpful and please note this isn't a guide for how to milk the system, make lots of money or any such thing, it is simply a guide on what you may be entitled to if you are expecting your first baby and are new to benefits.

Maternity Allowance and Statutory Maternity Pay.

If you're expecting, no doubt you will already know about these but I'll just run through them super quick. If you're working you should be entitled to one or the other (you might even be lucky enough to work for a company that has its own maternity policy). Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid by our employer in the same frequency of your wages. For the first 6 weeks you will receive 90% of our average wage and for the following 33 you will receive approximately £136 (or 90% if lower). You will need to of been employed by your employer for 26 consecutive weeks by the qualifying period (week 15 of your pregnancy) which is about 11 weeks before conception.

Maternity Allowance is what you can claim if you are not eligible for SMP and to qualify you will need to of been employed or in certain circumstances self-employed, for 26 of the 66 weeks before your baby is due. It is paid at the same rate as SMP (£136 or 90% of your average income over the 13 weeks you provide as evidence) so long as you have earns more than £30 a week whilst earning. This is paid either fortnightly or four-weekly (your choice).

Housing Benefit.

Obviously if you are claiming SMP or Maternity Allowance, your income is likely to drop, for some, significantly (for me it was over 50%). If you rent privately, you can apply to your local council for help with your rent. There's no shame in it, it's there for people who need it and I can't think of a better reason than keeping a roof over your head. Be warned, it is a long and lengthy form and process, but anything that eases the strain will be welcome, I am sure. If you are seen as qualifying for housing benefit, please note that it is not based upon the price of your rent, but the 'local housing allowance', a figure that shows the average price of renting a property for the size you need. If you are still expecting when you claim, you will more than likely be assessed against the local housing allowance for a one bedroom property, this is because it'll just be you and you're partner. When baby is born, obviously you will need to inform the,, your entitlement will most likely go up. Check out your local council's website for more information and you can also google your borough name along with 'local housing allowance' to find out what sort of figure you might be looking at. If you have a very low income, you may also be entitled to a council tax reduction (which has recently replaced Council Tax benefit), most housing benefit forms give you the option to apply for both, you may as well if you're struggling or think you might start to, it does no harm. Don't forget if you are a single expectant mother, you should be entitled to a council tax discount before baby is born. How often Housing Benefit is paid is highly dependant on your local council, it is often fort-nightly.

Tax Credits.

There are two main toes of tax credits; working and child. You can claim working tax credits before baby is born if you work over 30 hours, are over 25 and on a low income (around £13000 if you are single, £18000 for couples).

Once baby arrives you can then also claim child tax credits to help with costs and also childcare in certain circumstances. All the information is on the website and to make a claim, you will need to contact the tax credits office to ask for a form. Child tax credits are linked to child benefit and so you don't normally need to send your child's birth certificate off if you are also claiming child benefit.

Child Benefit.

The vast majority of us are entitled to this little bit of money which is paid four-weekly. It's about £20 a week for your first child (lower forconsecutive  children) and normally paid four-weekly. You'll get a form in your free Bounty packs (assuming they haven't been frog-marched from your hospital...), if not you can print one from the HMRC website. You will need to of registered your baby's birth before you apply as you will need the birth certificate as evidence.

There are other things such as sure start maternity grant and milk tokens for people who are on very low incomes, it may be worth checking to see if you qualify for such things.

Even if you are only entitled to some of these things after baby is born, it's worth getting what forms that you can as early as possible and fill in what you can before baby arrives. Having a baby is a manic, busy time and you do not want to be worrying about money on top of all of that, you want to be enjoying your newborn! So fill in what you can in advance, finish it once baby arrives, pop it in the post and try to forget about it to enjoy your new little person!

Please note I'm not a financial expert, just a working mother. Please also be aware that the government is currently in the process of introducing 'Universal Credit' which will combine all of the above benefits into one payment, you may or may don't be in an area that has already introduced this.

Clare

The Welfare State - entertainment for the wealthy?

This is one of two posts going live today on the topic of benefits etc.

The BBC and Channel 4's recent spate of 'documentaries' on the welfare state and money matters seems to of achieved one goal; war-mongering amongst the 'poor'.

As a full-time working mother (when I'm not lazing about on maternity leave) in receipt of some benefits, I think I'm supposed to be the target audience, I'm supposed to feel outraged as I watch these shows, outraged that I work my fluffy, size-eight socks off in my job whilst others claim full benefits and 'make' as much as I do. Am I supposed to be sitting here, in the living room of the house I pay £750 per month for in private rent, feeling angry at these people for being in need?

I don't. Not the people in genuine need, not the people who want to work but can't find it and not the people like myself who are working and still not really having enough at the end of the month. I once read someone describe it as 'too much month at the end of our money'. I know that I am fortunate, I can afford to put a roof over my head, food on the table and my bills to be paid, and watching the programmes has made me even more grateful for that. 

So what is the point of these shows, exactly? Is it to draw out negative reactions from those of us working, to shame those who are not? Is it to highlight the concern to the rest of us? Is it so that we have someone to blame for the state our country is in? With over 50% of the welfare spend going to pensioners, I find it very difficult to 'blame' anyone. We have a duty of care, as a nation, to help our elderly residents, people who have worked and paid tax for the majority of their lives. An important highlight of recent revelations is that it has never been more important to pay into a private pension and to have savings. Though rather disgustingly you will be taxed on both come your retirement...I won't even go into how much and why I find that so abhorrent.

I would be lying if I said that I sit and watch these shows without judging people because I do. I try so very hard to be empathetic, but some people really don't help themselves. If you are fit, healthy and able to work then you have absolutely no right to have a sense of entitlement over benefits including social housing. It should not be your life goal to get pregnant before you're legally old enough to drink, never work and expect to be handed a council house just because your mother doesn't have the room for you and your equally unemployed boyfriend and for said mother to then sit on national television saying she can't think of someone more deserving and in need of a council home...well...you can imagine the scowl on my face at that opinion. The welfare state was designed for people in need, people who cannot afford to house or feed themselves when all other avenues have failed. In today's Britain, there simply aren't enough jobs for our growing population, the work isn't always out there and let's not forget that whilst for every job that comes up there are x amount of unemployed people applying, there is undoubtedly a percentage of employed people looking to change jobs also. To put it bluntly, there is a whole generation of people that have little to no hope of finding work as they have no experience up against those of us already working, even low wage jobs are easily filled.

Others I have no sympathy for are the types that think they're 'above' minimum wage jobs. Nobody is above anything; if you can't afford to put food on the table then you'll take just about anything.

I'd rather these broadcasters stopped showing us people we are supposed to sit and shake our heads at, let's remember that these are people too and yes, whilst there is a minority that think it's okay to live their lives completely void of responsibility, the only charge of their own lives taken is filling out some forms and having children, there are a lot of people who don't have a choice. People who would do anything to pay their own way and can't. Surely we're paying our television licenses for more than putting people in virtual stocks, for us to throw judgements at in disgust? I'd much rather see some proposed solutions acted out (and no, I don't mean reverting back to 1949's rules), or some genuine help offered.

Has our welfare state become some sort of sick circus and are those of us in working, low-income families just the opening act?

Clare