I know I am, but I can't help it. Child benefit.

[Pinkjenny]

I am from a working class family, dh and I both have good jobs, two dc and a 3 bed semi. I suppose you could say we are comfortable. I work 4 days p/wk, dh obv full time, we are both degree educated, and I would call us lower middle class. If you like that kind of thing.

I would probably argue that we don't really need child benefit. But, what irks me, is that it's really the only thing we do get - we don't qualify for anything else. Now, I completely agree that welfare should go to those who need it most, but it almost seems like you are penalised for being marginally successful.

We have nursery fees to pay, a reasonably big mortgage, yada yada yada. Although we both earn ok money, we're hardly sitting at home counting our money either.

I can't quite put my finger on why the removal of child benefit is irritating me so much.

Perhaps I need a slap, I don't know.

I know I

[cupcakesandbunting]

Bend over.

[2shoeprintsintheblood]

so yet another thread

[Pinkjenny]

I have no idea where that 'I know I' came from. I think perhaps it's my subconscious starting to type 'I know I am BU.'

[Pinkjenny]

2shoe - I do apologise. I haven't been on in a while. Feel free to hide.

[twirlymum]

DH is just over the threshold. I work six hours a week. We will lose over £130 a month, which is a very big deal for us. We have a mortgage, run a modest car, haven't had a proper holiday in over three years, and I am majorly pissed off.
The TV packed up last month, we struggled to find the money for another one, now the oven is playing up! Grrrrr

[cupcakesandbunting]

I happen to agree with you, Pinkjenny. I just know that the competitive poorness element of MN will decide that you do not need that money and YABU for lamenting losing it.

[Pinkjenny]

cupcakes - I know, I know.

[fedupofnamechanging]

It annoys you because you probably pay more in tax than you receive in CB, therefore you are in effect paying your own CB and to lose it is the same as a tax hike.

It pisses me off because once again the middle people in this country are being told to make cuts (to pay for things which were not their fault) but the money 'saved' will not go to the poorest people in society and the rich get out of making any kind of sacrifice. (Philip Greene, Vodaphone etc have dodged tax in recent times).

[JeezyPeeps]

For people just over the threshold, can you start paying more into a pension scheme? This would reduce your taxable income and would increase your savings pot at the same time - win win!

[twirlymum]

If everyone lost it, fine. I'd deal with it. It's the fact that DH's colleague, who earns slightly less, along with his wife who earns £42k, and who send their son to private school and have at least two holidays a year, will still get it.

[Pinkjenny]

JeezyPeeps - I guess we could, yes. Another factor for us as a family is we now have an additional £346 p/month nursery bill for ds, in addition to the £284 we already pay for dd.

Plus surely house prices come into this? We live in a similar house to my parents, but we paid 4x more than them due to bloody house prices! Our salary isn't necessarily an indication of disposable income.

[Chil1234]

YANBU in thinking 'I don't ask for much and now even that's gone'. However, if you want to go forward in a positive way why not see it as an end to your own, rather minor, benefit dependency? Once it's all gone, the government (unless they hoik the taxes up) can't take anything else away. You are no longer beholden to the state for any part of your income. It's quite liberating. :)

[hairytriangle]

OP: There is something really wrong with your attitude that you are being 'penalised' by not getting benefits.

The welfare state is there to provide for and protect people that can't make it themselves.

You do not fall into that category.

YAB completely and utterly U.

[Pinkjenny]

Riven - I'm not sure why I feel I 'deserve' cash from the government. Venting my spleen here is helping me to figure it out!

Chil1234 - this is very true. Isn't there talk of a tax rise as well, though?

[Pinkjenny]

hairytriangle - I had a feeling I was.

Now I can move on from feeling irritated and go and buy some diamonds.

[NerdyFace]

Did you vote Tory?
If so you kinda brought this whole misery upon yourself!

Aside from that though, YANBU, having no children i can't really relate, but if you rely on that money and then it's suddenly taken away, it really must hurt the wallet!

[Pinkjenny]

Nerdy - I did, yes

[Chil1234]

There is always scope for tax increases, changes in tax thresholds, changes to tax-allowances (pensions in the news today). Disposable income can be nibbled away at - and the recently-departed Mr Brown did it for years.

The real reason you feel aggreived is because it was something everyone got as standard. No questions asked, no qualifying criteria - just £20/week (or however much) free, gratis. Have a kid and there's your cash.

If you've also lost out on CTC I'd suggest you didn't feel the loss of that quite so much. Many of us on good salaries, when it was introduced, found out we qualified and thought 'blimey, it's too good to be true'... and it proved to be the case. So when it went we were mostly expecting that to happen. Slightly different context.

[twirlymum]

DH worked out that with this cut, losing CTC, and a tax rise (not to mention VAT going up) we will be over £4k worse off a year.
That's a lot of money.

[Goulysses]

Maybe IABU too, as this is exactly the way I feel. Have DD and have recently found out I am pregnant too and feel that along with child benefit, can't trust the government to not withdraw free nursery places, child care vouchers and anything else that helps out.

And I didn't vote for them either.

[ZombieChickensHaveNoMercy]

Hell, I'm BU too then

[twirlymum]

I don't think it matters who you voted for, it wasn't in the manifesto, and if labour had got in, I think it would have still gone, the whole thing was Frank Field's idea.