Maternity Grant
 

I over heard this conversation today… by two pregnant women: one was a single mum the other had a partner ( who was on job seekers )
Well we get our grants just in time for Christmas… so we should be ok for booze and fags… it seems someone was doing a booze cruise or something:
This got me thinking: instead of giving them money ( because some people not all ) will use that money just to have a jolly: Why not issue them utility baby packs: simple white baby grows and the rest of the stuff they need… and basic cots and prams and so on:
There are enough people on benefits to justify some kind of hand out centre: At the end of the day a little baby does not know what kit its in…. so back to the war years and utility kit: and half the cost no doubt.
Why should we pay for these people to have kids, if they can’t afford them:

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Either that or issue them with vouchers so they have no choice but to spend it on the child and not on booze and fags and anything else not child related

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Well i agree and dont, i got the maternity grant and used it for a new settee and some stuff for the house, my partner works and so do i, not at the moment as im on maternity leave. But i do undestand what u mean, it really makes me angry that we have to pay for people to have kids, as Jeremy Kyle says every day on his program, i pay for you to have kids, go and get yourself a job like me! Go Jeremy!!!

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emzy they'd only sell them to somebody, just as people have got vouchers for things through the DHSS and have flogged them down the pub, saw that with my own eyes many times in the 70s and 80s

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Never thought of that

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That is why vouchers would be of no use: however government issue kit would not be easy to sell on: thus the baby gets what it needs:

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but people give you things when you are pregnant... so people could still claim for things they dont need and sell them on..

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I just feel sorry for the children :(

I too am fed up with women popping kids out like its going out of fashion, when they can't afford them.Theres children i see on their way to school in clothes that don't fit them and looking under-nourished and it really riles me.
Their trousers dragging in the puddles (after being rolled up!) and i have seen quite a few lil lads having to force themselves into coats that are too small :(

Re: Maternity Grant
 

especially since its a (heavily)pregnant woman thinking about fags and booze before her baby!

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It's people like that who give the maternity grant a bad name.

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yes but these would just be bog standard government issue kit ....so they would not get much for them see:

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I guess the bottom line should be… if you can not afford the upkeep of a child then you should not have one: however that will never happen .There are some young girls out there who see having a child as an excuse not to work…. To get handouts… crisis loans and the all the other benefits:

So the government should not make it easy for them…. Food and clothes and kit should be standard issue: maybe that would cut it down a bit ( or a least make it cheaper for the tax paying people )

Re: Maternity Grant
 

and yes i will be applying for my maternity grant soon (3 weeks) but will be spending it on baby (with mrskittys help i think lol) i havent been unemployed and relying on benefits long term, i worked after ty was born and i will do when i am able.

Re: Maternity Grant
 

In the days before the Social Fund, I was in charge of 'Single Payments' for several years at Melbourne House.
Single Payments could be claimed for household goods which were not considered covered by the weekly Income Support. (Prams and cots were such items.)
The amount awarded was based on local second hand prices.

If it was obvious that the system was being abused I could source, purchase and arrange delivery of an item. I did this once with a cooker for a woman who was asking for money for a cooker too often over a short spell of years.
That method of supplying was cumbersome and took more of my time and was only reasonable to do it in extreme cases.

Re: Maternity Grant
 

So why are the powers that be not switching on to this fact…. There are some that get decorating vouchers ( only to sell them ) and some shops will even give them money….
There should be a central point in each town ( government owned ) where handouts can be given….

That would save a lot more than the 2 % vat …. At times it really seems to me that the powers that be are totally THICK….

Re: Maternity Grant
 

There was and always will be abuse of any grant system.
The people who abuse it are in a minority and the costs of administering a system of supplying goods instead of cash would involve very costly administration which would by far outweigh any savings made in abolishing abuse

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Exactly Margaret .. would be very difficult to monitor. Just like our threads on Child Benefit and our Heating Allowance. Just has to go in the pot .. and if it provides a few extra luxuries (which they may have had to forego without it) for folks over and above what they may possibly have bought for their baby already, then so be it.

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Most people I know, even though they are struggling for money, put their children first and themselves a long way behind.

Their children always have nice clothes, new toys or just little gifts, everything they need, whilst the mother will forego some of the necessaries just to afford stuff for them. I think Mothers that 'milk' the system are the minority. You have some mothers that have little choice, especially when their children are young, but to stay at home and claim benefits. They didnt realise before the child was conceived that this would be the case, but they have to make do with the hand life has dealt them. I think its unfair to keep putting these women, who struggle enough anyway, in the same boat

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We all know the kind of people I am referring to : Of course there are single women who but their children first… and in many cases it is not their fault they have to rely on the state: They do a first class job of bringing up their children…

But there are many that totally abuse the system time after time: and why should we pay for them to do it:

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Well as bloke on here listening to what a lot of our younger female member say, I think by and large you do a great job of bringing up your kids, its just a pity that there are those in our society that let the side down, which puts those who make a genuine fist of life in these difficult times, in a bad light. I think we saw yesterday an example of what I'm say in the Matthews case, this woman is a disgrace to motherhood:mad:

Re: Maternity Grant
 

when i was pregnant with Reece i got £100 maternity grant, now its £500, just been talking to my bro-in-laws sister in town and she's having twins, she'll be getting £1000, £500 per child, she told me she will be getting everything second hand and that the money will be going on her other kids christmas presents, i couldnt believe it

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I got £1000 (£500 per child) and every penny plus a lot more went on the boys, they had everything new, it cost a fortune but I have always been the same with the boys and they get the best I can afford and every spare penny goes on them, wouldnt dream on spending their money on me

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since when have the boys drunk vodka and smoked fags then? ;)

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Shhhhh!!!!!!

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When my daughter was born I think we got tokens for milk powder of some sorts.Decided then one was enough,coffee tasted awful.Never got any grants of money though.
But then again you had somewhere to work.Seems like pregnancy is the new cottage industry.:confused::hidewall:

Re: Maternity Grant
 

I for one didnt have kids just to get out of working. I worked at least 10 hrs a day until I was 7 1/2 months pregnant (would have finished a lot sooner than this if the doctors had had anything to do with it and the reason I finished work was because that I could no longer climb the 2 flights of stairs at a decent pace between my office and the loo's and I was no longer able to reach my computer when sat down!), and did not plan on having children, never mind having twins.

I had ever intention of returning to work after my maternity leave but due to circumstances beyond my control I have been unable to return to work as life has not turned out as planned for me

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Emzy, you don't have to justify yourself.

People shouldn't see things like this in such black and white terms.

The majority of single parents are in the predicament due to circumstances beyond their control. issues can be totally different.

It is a minority, even though it may not seem so, that give the genuine ones a bad name and bring on comments like that.

Must say though, even I was amazed at the size of maternity grant.

Think it was £75 , 19 years ago when I had my twins, and seem to recall having to wait until after the birth to claim for the second one

£500 is a nearly a 6 fold increase :)

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I know I dont have to justify myself but do feel a need to sometimes because we all seem to get tarred with the same brush before people know the facts.

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Been there, got the tee shirt Emzy. Been looked down on by so called reputable citizens.

Just makes us good uns want to show em.
Got 2 good lads all grown up now and at uni, while some of the "reputable" family set ups have spawned prison fodder :mad:

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Your a few years ahead of me but hopefully I will successfully raise these 2 in the way that I want to and they will make me proud (not that im not already)

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You go Emzy!! Single mothers of the world unite, and all that Jazz

I didnt get a maternity grant as I was working, My maternity leave was 10 days, as I hadnt been working at the company for proper maternity leave, so had to use cummulative holidays. That was after a difficult birth, where little one was born dead and was thankfully resuscitated.

I think its disgraceful the way single parents are blamed and slated for everything. Yobs on the street? Because they come from single parent families. Economy problems? Must be all the handouts single parents get? Conflicts in Iraq and Afghan? Must be those damn single mothers again....

Re: Maternity Grant
 

They are bringing out a new one in June.. £190 for nearly all pregnant women

Nursing & Midwifery Council - Health in Pregnancy Grant to be launched April 2009

that will be as well as the £500 maternity grant because that one is for the baby and the £190 is for the mother.

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Let's not give Jeremy Kyle too much credit just yet, he makes money off poverty! He capitalises on the misery of others.

The reason I can see a flaw in this kit thing that people have suggested is that whilst it may be made up of cheaper things such as baby clothes and bit and bats, someone will have to put it all together which requires employee's, then it would need health and safety checks and so on and so forth and it would end up costing much more.

I prefer the idea of vouchers, but it reminds me of a shop in accrington which would allow people to spend milk tokens on anything you liked rather than just milk.

The idea of creating more regulation creates more law breakers comes to mind.

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Its been reported in numerous papers his morning that since the Maternity Grant was increased teenage pregnancies have rocketed, around 45,000 more babies a year are born to unmarried teenage girls than previously, which accounts for one in every fifteen babes born. These figures were revealed in a Government funded survey

Re: Maternity Grant
 

And I'm pretty sure they didn't use a turkey baster. Men don't have to have unprotected sex with girls. Where are these 45,000 so called men that have provided the sperm!?

Re: Maternity Grant
 

The thing is though, most of them arn't Men theyr'e Boys!, with a much higher Sperm Count than IQ level. They dont give a damn, and are quite prepared to Father kids and walk away, and i'm afraid there's very little in todays society to discourage them either! Many of these Girls are getting Pregnant deliberatly to milk the Benefit system and avoid work. They seem to put more thought these days into buying a mobile phone than they do to planning parenthood.

I think providing them with the basic equipment (Government Issue) is a much better idea. It would actually cost far less in the long run i feel. It need not be too complicated, and could be operated via an extension of facilities that we already have in place ie Hospital Stores Departments and Occupational Therapy dept who already provide equipment for Elderly and Disabled people.

Child Benefit should also be limited to just the first child only. I know its not a great deal of money, and wouldn't solve the problem, but we need to get away from an idea where the state provides help to the most irresponsible members of society.

People with True hardship, illness and disability should be the main beneficiaries of State Help.

Best Regards - Taggy

Re: Maternity Grant
 

I think Taggy is right they're not men but boys, plus the fact is, if a female of any age doesn't want to get pregnant they don't have to this day and age. I'm darn sure if I knew I was being sadled with something I didn't want, I'd take precations to make sure I didn't end up with it

Re: Maternity Grant
 

It takes 2 to make babies and should take 2 to make sure you don't make one.

It may sound sexist or whatever but if you are female and don't want a baby then ultimately it is up to you to make sure you don't. Blaming the man afterwards is not good contraception.

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Why is it ultimately upto the woman? Surely sex is a concensual experience where both people share a meeting of the minds and agree to have sex? Both should think about contraception and think of the consequences of that contraception failing them and if they can't manage that or don't agree then they simply shouldn't have sex!

Equal decision, equal problem, equal blame. None of this ultimately it's either of the partners fault as an individual.

Re: Maternity Grant
 

And I did say 'so-called men' didn't I. In other words boys who think they're all grown up and mature. Though I know of a few older ones who are pretty pathetic in terms of being men as well.

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Because the woman could end up on her own with the child while the man carrys on with his life.

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Hang on, lets get things into prospective here. We are talking about 500 quid, not a major fortune, certainly not enough to feed,cloth, and provide for a child for 6 months, let alone anything else.

Yes we can all say that if we cut the maternity gran, all the teenage girls and bad mothers will immediately stop having children, and will stop being the dross of society. We can pull all these stats up that back up this theory. Thing with stats though, they never quite tell you if they have taken on board the larger picture. The population grew during the baby boom era, so theres a knock on effect. Also society has changed and the whole unmarried mother thing is less frowned upon....

In an ideal world, we would have kids being brought up by both a mother and father, above the age of 20, in a financially and emotionally stable environment, with not a hint of tobacco smoke, alcohol fumes or raised voices. Unfortunately we live in the real world. I have yet to find someone that has had a child purely for 500 pounds maternity and 40 quid a week tax credits

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Is that because you are older and wiser than the youngsters that do think a child is still a way to get a house etc?

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I dont think so. I think it may be a case of 'unplanned' rather than 'planned' in the majority of cases. And the days of getting pregnant and 'bingo theres your house' are long gone.

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if you listen to the radio in the evening you would think everyone under 20 was either pregnant or has an sti. Have you heard all those advert's?
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Re: Maternity Grant
 

Afraid i disagree, whilst some of these girls may be physically mature, the same cannot be said of them mentally. They often use pregnancy as a way of hanging on to a relationship also. £500 and £40 a week may be small feed to a lot of people, but to them its not, we are talking about people who are not used to seeing large amounts of money, so to them initially it does seem a lot. Plus its the security of knowing this money is guaranteed and they wont need to go out and work for it.

As for being a ticket to a house, well i'm afraid it still is. OK there may not be anywhere near as much Council/Social housing as there was (Or should be), but a single mother with child will still be pretty much at the top of the housing ladder. They may have to declare themselves homeless, and face a short stay in a hostel for a while, but i personally know of people who have done this, despite coming from good homes, with responsible parents. In their immaturity, they just want to break away, and do their own thing, they think because they have a child and a home it makes them Adults! Social services, in this politically "Incorrect" age have i'm afraid made this easy for them.

Its interesting to note in other european countries like Spain for example, being a single Mother is frowned upon, and there are no specific benefits that they can claim. Hence more children stay at home for longer, including the ones who do have unplanned pregnancies.


Best Regards - Taggy

Re: Maternity Grant
 

That was the point was trying to make Neil, not being disrespectful to women, blazey may beat university, but sometimes she doesn't think logically. Its always the woman that's left holding the baby, it always has and always will be and its no use coming out with the old cherry it takes two, there is only one left with the responsibility. There are women that see that as a meal ticket aka Karen Matthews who classed her had outs as her wages and unfortunately she is not an isolated case

Re: Maternity Grant
 

I have four friends currently with new babies and their childrens dads are all around supporting their ladies. One of those friends even has a mortgage with her fella. There are a lot of girls from my school year who have kids and I know at least one of the girls has two children.

I can't think of a single one of them who doesn't have a job though and/or a boyfriend with them who is working or training to provide for their family.

My point is that yes, young girls may be starting families at a young age but in my experience around here they're doing quite a good job of getting out and getting jobs and carrying on with their lives.

We're lucky that there are creches at college and support available for young mothers and fathers if they wish to make use of the services. I think the bigger problem is helping those who have grown dependent on the system get back into work if they've lived fine enough without.

I do personally find it quite physically sickening when i hear of another friend getting pregnant because I do wonder how they will cope when I see threads like this and people saying its a massively expensive problem, but luckily they've always either had their boyfriends working long hours to scrape by or they've decided to go out to college themselves and train to make something of themselves. Sometimes a baby encourages someone to not give up and life and learn to value the opportunities they're given.

And then sadly some don't, but I think those people are a select minority and when their 'benefit baby' grows up into a child that begins achieving things at school and so on then hopefully they'll at least learn to appreciate that its not just about the benefits but about love and pride and all sorts of other things too. And its those things that make someone bad or good in my opinion, how much love and pride they receive from their mothers as children.

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Not correct I'm afraid. 11% of single parents are male.

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Some single parents are male but, as you have just pointed out, they are in a small minority.

The majority are women.

It may take two to make a baby but, I agree with Neil, if the woman doesn't want a baby it is down to her to make sure it doesn't happen.

It is much easier for a man to desert his responsibilities for a baby than it is for a woman. A man can scarper as soon as two blue lines appear on the pregnancy test.

Not so for a woman.

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Spot on Lilly, nothing more to be said

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The statistics for single parents don't state how many of them are supported financially by the other parent. 'Single' doesn't necessarily mean you have had a child on your own, the parents could be divorced or widowed etc.

Then you always have the problem of statistics being biased or manipulated to suit the purpose. You can never be sure what the situation is really unless you do your own research and most normal people don't have time or the means to do that!

Re: Maternity Grant
 

Not disagreeing with that, just a minor correction to the original comment :D