crappy government

[Lliena]

How would £250/£500 help now when they dont get it until the child is 18?? To be honest £250 or £500 sint gonna go anywhere by the time our kids are 18!

 

[veganmum2be]

How would £250/£500 help now when they dont get it until the child is 18?? To be honest £250 or £500 sint gonna go anywhere by the time our kids are 18!

oh i thought were on about the grant! sorry.

no i agree the child trust fund should go.

 

[Blah11]

we dont get FREE healthcare! our NI contributions pay for our healthcare.

again, some ppl are holy than thou - i'm sure if you ask nicely those ppl out there that dont have much will walk infront of you scattering rose petals and apologising prefusely for being such a drain on your otherwise perfect society, because your so perfect.

People aren't moaning that they no longer get 'something for nothing', they are saying atht they have found themselves in a situation and that that money would have helped. you dont know if they are buying new or not!

Do you have any idea how much healthcare costs? You clearly don't. The NHS is free healthcare for ALL. No matter who you are and what you earn you will get the same treatment as everyone else. I think thats a great plus for our country.

 

[Dragonfly]

I phoned them and they said they have heard nothing about the grant going down. And i cant find a story so I dont know where this came from ??

 

[Blah11]

The grant isn't going down? trust funds are being scrapped.

 

[veganmum2be]

I phoned them and they said they have heard nothing about the grant going down. And i cant find a story so I dont know where this came from ??

the 500 grant isnt going down but i think people are still debating weather it should.

its just the child trust fund that is getting cut.

x

 

[polo_princess]

I dont really give two hoots about the CTF but i do care about the HIP, we've bought every single thing for this baby second hand except 1 pack of baby grows and 1 pack of vests. All of the the other clothes have been second hand. I was planning on using my HIP grant to buy paint and nappies ect for our baby as this cant be bought second hand. If this was means tested we wouldnt be entitled to it as we both work but are on such low wages.

The HIP grant is supposed to be for healthy eating its not supposed to be to buy your baby stuff?

Do you mean you really needed the £500 SS grant, which is there to help people who need it buy essentials for their baby?

I know how to be healthy in pregnancy so next best thing for me is things for baby. TBH I don't think I would bother claiming it had this LO been a boy as I already have all the boys stuff I need

"If you're a mum-to-be you may be able to get a one-off, tax-free payment called the Health in Pregnancy Grant. The money is to help you with your wider costs in the run up to your baby's birth."

The money is not just to eat healthily but also to be able to provide for your baby as quoted on the direct.gov website.
As has already been said i know how to be healthy and if that is the case and it was for healthy eating then they should spread it out from early pregnancy in supermarket vouchers, which is when most of us take a look at our diets and aim to be more healthy.

Why is it called a "health in pregnancy" grant then?

Either way i was merely asking a question based on the name of the grant, no need to reply to me in that tone. It wasnt as if i challenged your every dietary move, it was a pretty general question hence why it was followed with a confused smilie, yet now i am ever more confused as to why you think i was challenging you in some way from your defensive reply?

 

[Dragonfly]

I gathered from the original post it had gone down and the trust fund?? confused. But thanks for clearing that up. I think it dosnt garentee your baby will get the money I read that on the terms and never paid into it. My parents used a private one for me and i got a lot of money when I was 18 which I wish I had of kept till I was 21 as I spent it on crap.

 

[bubbles]

^^ thats what I thought! @ polo

As for the comment about being paid to sit on our bums and look after our kids, WTH? believe me I'm a SAHM and don't sit on my bum all day nor do I get paid for staying at home. Other than that comment I agree with what your saying

ETA - Polo princess if that was at my comment, I didn't mean anything 'off' by it just explaining why mine won't be going on 'healthy stuff'. In all honesty I think they would be better to scrap it and pump it into educating people about healthy eating in pregnancy or cut it down and send it in vouchers

 

[Blah11]

2nd tri mummys are scary

 

[lkb21]

we dont get FREE healthcare! our NI contributions pay for our healthcare.

again, some ppl are holy than thou - i'm sure if you ask nicely those ppl out there that dont have much will walk infront of you scattering rose petals and apologising prefusely for being such a drain on your otherwise perfect society, because your so perfect.

People aren't moaning that they no longer get 'something for nothing', they are saying atht they have found themselves in a situation and that that money would have helped. you dont know if they are buying new or not!

Do you have any idea how much healthcare costs? You clearly don't. The NHS is free healthcare for ALL. No matter who you are and what you earn you will get the same treatment as everyone else. I think thats a great plus for our country.

I didn't say it wasn't a great plus did i??!? I'm not taking for granted all the wonderful things that we get!

what i was saying was it isn't free! which is correct is it not? and as for 'you clearly dont', i'm not an idiot and dont appreciate being spoken to like one!!!!

 

[polo_princess]

Bubbles, you are really really confusing me now I think we have our wires crossed somewhere? I wasnt being funny in my earlier posts, merely confused.

I didnt say anyone sits on their bums though?

 

[bubbles]

2nd tri mummys are scary

Too many hormones and not enough tiredness. I'd be suprised if there was anything like this in 3rd tri, too tired to argue by that point

 

[Blah11]

Bloody hell. I'm stepping out, back to the friendly GC!

 

[bubbles]

Bubbles, you are really really confusing me now I think we have our wires crossed somewhere? I wasnt being funny in my earlier posts, merely confused.

I didnt say anyone sits on their bums though?

s'alright I confuse myself all the time so no suprise that I confuse others. Someone else posted about being paid to sit on our bums and look after our kids just too lazy to go back and quote

 

[septembermum]

Well the CTF is pointless anyway. Why can't the parents put money into a savings account for their child themselves? So so so much money has been wasted on this stupid scheme money that wasn't even there!!!!!!!!!! they actually got into more debt for what seems to be NOTHING!!!!! I have been waiting for the day conservatives can come into power and sort out labours MESS!!!
Sure start rumours is just plain down to scaremongering from labour so you can ignore that for now and I'm sure if we need it conservatives will make the right decision and cut what they need to!
CTC is absolutely mad... the fact I'm entitled to hardly any when we earn 12k a year yet people over 50k are getting them!! I'm glad they are being reduced.

People obviously forget how lucky we are as a country
we can £20 a week for NOTHING (child benefit)
we get FREE healthcare
We get PAID to sit at home on our bums and look after our kiddies
We get FREE money just because we've gotten ourselves preggo

the list is endless and i can imagine all these people complaining about not getting free money anymore trying to live in a country that doesn't believe in handouts for nothing!!! good luck

and as for £500+£190 which is nearly 700 to pay for a newborn!!!!!!!!! i probably spent about £300 including clothes up to a year, a travel system pram and car seat, a moses basket, cot, cot mattress, toys, jumperoo, changing table, big supply of nappies and wipes, bibs, bottles, toiletries, blankets, bouncy chair etc you get the picture
if your so poor you need free money off of the government to buy things for you baby........... maybe you shouldn't be buying things new!?

I object to We get PAID to sit at home on our bums and look after our kiddies comment as any parent knows looking after kids is hard work and as a parent of 5 i can tell you over the past 25 years it hasnt been easy raising a family on minimum wage. Please remember child benefit is paid to all so does that mean it should be scrapped for people who dont work.

I beleive every parent wants the best for there children and if they can provide they will and if they cant then why should they be denied a little help why should the children suffer they didnt ask to be born.

I personally dont care or need any of these handouts as long as my child is happy and healthy thats all that matters to me.

 

[bubbles]

^^ thats the post! I knew someone less lazy than me would do it eventually

 

[Emzywemzy]

I have found reading the responses in this thread really interesting and I think everyone is right to some extent. Yes, I agree that people should be able to afford to have children before they decide to have a baby but as some have rightly pointed out, peoples situations change and the whole point in a benefits system is to help those who need it. I think a lot of problems come from how easy it is to abuse the benefits system that is meant to be there to help people who really need it. Too many people take it as a given that they will survive on government money and use it as an excuse not to support a family themselves. I also think that it is all too easy for some people not to work when they are perfectly capable of doing so. BUT this is not to say that we should tar everyone with the same brush.

I know people who don't work because they 'can't be bothered' (their own words) and say things like 'why should I bother going to work when loads of it gets taken in tax?' and 'I manage fine on my benefits so I can't be arsed' and so on. One couple I know have recently had a baby purely to get benefits money. They don't work and didn't bother going out to find a job to pay for baby stuff as they didn't see the point when the government would give them money for free instead. The mother quit her part time job whilst she was pregnant as she 'couldn't see the point when she could get the same amount in benefits' and the father didn't work in the first place (he never has). He comes from a family where his mother, father and siblings have never worked and have been 'on the sick' when they don't need to be for years and the father is a fraudster as he works cash in hand at night as well as claiming benefits for disability. It makes me mad when I see people abusing the system and it makes me annoyed that it is so easy to do. Slightly off topic, it amazes me the amount of people who are on 'job seekers' allowance for years and years and they say things like "there are no jobs". Yes it is difficult to get a job at the moment, but stop their money and then see how fast they will get a job. I was recently unemployed but as I've been a full time student within the last year I was not entitled to any form of job seekers allowance whilst I was looking for a job. For some, it's very easy to go to the job centre and show a slip of paper saying "looked on monster.com" to get their money for another fortnight but never bother actually going for an interview as nobody ever checks.

Anyway I'm really waffling now!! Despite these people who abuse the system I think it's important to remember why these benefits are there in the first place and I whilst there are people like this who make us all mad by abusing the system, I'd like to think the vast majority of people do not and I for one am happy to pay my taxes to support those who find themselves in a less fortunate situation.

xx

 

[lkb21]

I'm taking me out too.

I'm not a nasty pasty - this is just too much of a broad subject. I was just shocked at how different ppls opinions could be.

Apologies once again for taking anything personally and reacting as such.

hope all of the lovely mummies on this thread (and by that i mean ALL of the mummies - cause we're all lovely! ) are well. apologies for hormones!!!

I'll chil now

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[emmalj80]

Nothing as yet is happening to the maternity (£500) grant i've been on to the government website which is updated daily the ctf says its being phased out, but nothing is mention on the materninty grant.

https://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyT...ort/Expectingorbringingupchildren/DG_10018854