More than a third of children in Twerton growing up in poverty

“This country has a miserable climate and with energy costs taking a significant portion of disposable incomes illness is the result of the failure to properly heat homes.”

“Trouble is, there's always a hidden agenda behind this sort of argument. It is certainly true that there are billions in the world far worse off, in absolute terms, than the majority of poor people in this country. But there are far too many Malcolms who would cite this as a valid reason to make the poor poorer.

It's not. The UK is not Mogadishu or Venezuela. The poor in the UK are a minority, and there is no shortage of money. For the price of every new Range Rover you pass on the way to work, we could've fed and housed three whole families for a year. We have no excuse.”

“I agree Tomsjan, poverty is the wrong word, poorer than average perhaps, but then an average income in the UK is ridiculously high compared to a lot of other countries where genuine poverty is rife.”

“I would also like to applaud Jelbert but I have concerns that "poverty" is the wrong word. having visited Venezuela and seen people living in shanty towns with nothing to their name, I would not be so quick to use the terminology. And surely there are elderly people living on even less money but they at least have the old-fashioned cooking skills referred to by Ludwigvan and can still feed themselves well. Before anyone is labelled "in poverty" surely it should be established where they choose to spend what little they do have? Jelbert seems to have a sense of responsibility but many don't and still buy the things they want (rather than need) in preference to food. I would consider someone "in poverty" if they had no car (or other means of transport), cigarettes, booze, phone, mobile, xbox, Playstation, Hifi, Large TV/DVD/Bluray player/satellite dish, microwave, electronic games/devices, brand new furniture, barbecue, holidays or any other little luxury.

But I just realised - I have just described myself when first married and paying for the roof over my head - no money left at the end of the week and bacon was a luxury treat on Sundays. Nobody gave me a label, I never had a penny from the government (not even family allowance back then) and I did not consider myself hard done by! I learnt to cook cheap cuts of meat, made a chicken last a week and made tasty nourishing soup from bones and pulses. Maybe I should start cookery courses to pass on forgotten scrimping skills.”

“Thank you ludwigvan.

We don't intend to live in poverty for much longer, it was terrifying when my husband first lost his job but we have been well looked after, the safety net has done it's job well and we are incredibly grateful. I can honestly say my children haven't suffered, it has taught us what really is important in life (and mainly whats not) and has put a lot of things into perspective.”

“I agree with most of the other posts and applaud Jelbert but unfortunately there are those who plead poverty on the one hand and do smoke, drink, have mobile phones and other gadgets they really can't afford and don't put the needs of their children first. Many of them have never been taught how to cook good, basic, nourishing food and so buy far too much convenience food, sugary drinks and snacks as a "treat". These "treats" in turn lead,in some cases to hyperactive behaviour and that can result in all kinds of problems in the future. If you watch them out shopping they tend to go for "instant" and convenience foods rather than ingredients - who needs to buy grated cheese, instant mash, crumble mix, etc, when the ingredients to make fresh food are actually cheaper?

As for getting into debt to buy furniture and appliances? No need as there are perfectly good second hand/used items available on eBay, Freecycle, TradeIt and at Victorian and General auctions where some things can be bought for next to nothing. Living within ones means may sound Dickensian but it has worked for previous generations who had nothing and also had to cope with rationing and managed to put food on the table. Education is the key.”

“Can I just add we don't smoke, go to the pub, buy designer clothes, eat out, have expensive gadgets, have a new car or go on foreign holidays. I don't know many families who are both lucky enough to be in work who do many of these things either.... I can imagine if you did even one of these while living on benefits you, or rather your children, would potentially suffer.

We spend most of our money on good food, taking our children out to do activities and paying for them to learn to swim etc... It's all about priorities and budgeting.”

“I have lived and travelled in countries that have genuine poverty. Where people have no access to healthcare, housing, food, clean water, education or any prospect of improving their situation. There are millions of people in the world who face this. It is an insult to them for anybody in this country to be described as living in poverty.”

“Housing benefits do not cover all of a private rent, Bath in particular having rents far higher than the benefit allowed. The fact is, the HB cap can affect that nice family living next door to any one of us by taking their weekly income from work or benefits down to less than £50 per week, before household fuel costs.

I think it's also worth noting that those who are not privately renting, single parents who work part time will have school transport costs, their own commuting costs and quite possibly (much like the rest of us) debts to pay. If you need a new cooker for example and have no disposable income you take out a loan. Who offers you that loan with a poor credit history may explain the situation some find themselves in a little more clearly.”

“Moe, I don't think the figures you're quoting are all that far off mine, really. As you say, housing costs are the great imponderable, but most of the families covered by this would probably be in social housing and receiving HB at some level, which is presumably why CECP say they've stripped them out. Here's the report in The Post, btw:

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