1/ The & #39;being able to afford your kids& #39; trope being peddled around Twitter is both inane and offensive. People& #39;s circumstances change, for many reasons: natural (coronavirus); personal (ill health); family (birth/death); and political (austerity).

2/ How things are at the outset is unlikely to remain the same. Life happens. Furthermore, poor families, unemployed families, families with ill health, can all bring up amazing young people who go on to be the ones who must contribute to society.

3/ my father was unemployed my whole life. I had free school meals the whole time. I am the youngest of five children. We are now: a business person; a finance director; a solicitor; a teacher; and a professor (me).

4/ Why do people think growing up in poverty will mean you are a waste of space when you grow up? I even have to fight this & #39;cycle of poverty& #39; nonsense in my engagements with the public sector. Total tripe.