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i have just finished watching "poor kids" on bbc1, did anyone see it? pretty shocking some of the poverty in the uk today, pretty depressing viewing tbh, not far off 3rd world in some parts. made me angry these children are living in dire conditions in this day and age, in this country. i was just wondering if people have any ideas who's fault it is, is it the government, societies, the poor themselves fault? if we as a country, a supposed rich country, can't do anything for these people, then what hope has the 3rd world got??
Didn't watch it Paul. I live about three miles from the estate that was filmed on. I work in the benefits system. My honest answer as to who I think is at fault is undoubtedly the parents who you can guarantee will use their benefits money to but alcohol and cigarettes and would never consider working (unless it is cash in hand and they can keep their 'social'). But the problem is that the poor kids can not be blamed. They are victims and how can we leave them to suffer and do nothing?
Working on the inside (so to speak) I can assure you this is going to get worse due to the cut backs that are being undertaken. It is not going to be nice over the next few years.
yeah i know there is, franky, evil parents out there who do this to their kids, but there were a few on this programme who were trying to get a job etc, and also the benefit office was sometimes not paying child benefit they were due, undoubtedly a lot of parents are to blame, but there is something like 4 million children living in this poverty in this country, so i think in a lot, or some of the cases maybe society or the government may be responsible for it, yeah my worry is also it will get worse, the programme said under current cuts etc child poverty will rise 11% in the coming years, very sad
Without doubt there are decent, honest people who have fallen on hard times. But, in my 22 years of working in benefits, I have formed the opinion that many (most?) of those capable and young enough to work do not really want to. Many of my colleagues in that time have been single mums who have juggled raising kids with holding down a job. It isn't easy for them but they do it.
I would also question the definition of poverty used in the statistics much loved by documentary makers and the liberal left. IIRC it is based on a percentage of the average national income. The benefits system (as it stands at the moment) guarantees enough money for shelter food and clothes. Not mansions, Gucci and foie gras for sure but enough to keep you going. If people chose to spend that money on booze, iphones and **** what can you do?
So is poverty not being able to go to Florida for your holidays and running a car or is it about being able to buy shoes for the kids? Maybe it is somewhere in between the two. I don't think that real poverty needs to exist in today's Britain like it did in the 19th century but I also think many people have lost the ability to make rational choices for themselves.
i think the poverty in this documentary was not far from 3rd world you should watch it on the i player, these people couldn't even afford clothes and sometimes food, some seemed to be decent people to. and if there is, in some areas, 100 people to every 1 job for the unemployed, there will be tons of people who want to work but just can't get a job
i think the poverty in this documentary was not far from 3rd world you should watch it on the i player, these people couldn't even afford clothes and sometimes food, some seemed to be decent people to. and if there is, in some areas, 100 people to every 1 job for the unemployed, there will be tons of people who want to work but just can't get a job
I might well watch it Paul. But of those parents who seemed decent how many drink and smoke and have tattoos? What does a pack of cigs cost? What's a tattoo? £30? That would buy a kid a coat or pair of shoes or feed them for a week (if you could be bothered to buy ingredients and cook meals rather than buy takeaways and pot noodles).
Sorry but whilst my heart breaks for the kids (I did see some clips of the show on the local evening news programme) I have very little sympathy for the parents who can't find jobs and yet I couldn't begin to tell you how many Eastern European people have come to Bradford in the last 10 years and found employment.
Last edited by Yorkie Bar; 06-08-2011 at 12:31 PM..
I didn't watch the programme (might catch it on iPlayer if I have time) but it reminds of a friend I had when I was 9 or 10 (so, mid-90s) - he was from a single-parent family on benefits living on a council estate, and first time I went to his house I was quite shocked at how he and his brothers slept on mattresses on the floor rather than having proper beds of their own, and they'd had to sell their only TV for some reason. The house was usually filthy and stank of tobacco. Thinking about it now, if that mother wasn't willing or capable of keeping a decent house and doing right by her children, was it wise for her to have children at all, and wise for the country to keep paying her to churn them out?
Personally I can only see the poverty gap getting worse with the fewer and fewer opportunities there are now for uneducated/unskilled people, particularly for men. Turning people temperamentally and physically more suited to the jobs in shipyards/mines/factories etc they'd have worked in 50-100 years ago and turning them into call centre or supermarket customer service fodder just isn't going to happen. I worked in a call centre for a few months once and it felt like I'd had my balls cut off to be honest - at least doing a physical job there's the satisfaction of being able to do it and feeling like you've done a day's work at the end of it - for somebody probably like my old friend what must it do to your self-esteem working in a call centre listening to people moan on all day and knowing that that's as far up as you are likely to get?
Personally I can only see the poverty gap getting worse with the fewer and fewer opportunities there are now for uneducated/unskilled people, particularly for men. Turning people temperamentally and physically more suited to the jobs in shipyards/mines/factories etc they'd have worked in 50-100 years ago and turning them into call centre or supermarket customer service fodder just isn't going to happen.
yeah i think you have hit the nail on the head there ben, i worked in construction since i left school until 2 years ago, was lucky to get another job last year, was very lucky though to know someone who would take me on, in my area the unemployment is crazy, going on 80% must be, so although i know you get lazy bums, who aren't willing to work i know people personally who have worked in construction, factories etc who, after the factories shut or they had been paid off, now struggle to find work, and that isn't for lack of trying
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