"Its outrageous. My family is loosing child benefit just for earning £100k."

[SirBoobAlot]

A friend has just linked to this on facebook. I admit I am struggling to find any sympathy for her.

Opinions?

[CogitoErgoSparklers]

They can't spell 'losing'?

[Darkesteyes]

Hmmm So its ok when high earners opt out of overtime so they can keep their Child Benefit but when someone in a low paid job does the same by opting out of overtime (and a lot of overtime is intermittent in lower waged jobs causing backlogs in tax credit paperwork) to keep their working tax credits they are viewed as scroungers by some in society and a lot in the media. The hypocrisy is astounding.

[scaevola]

Yes, like companies seeking to minimise tax is wrong, but using pension contribution increase or salary sacrifice to keep CB is OK.

[SuePurblybilt]

That poor, poor woman. LOOK at her home furnishings. Nasty Pleather sofa. Awful polyester rug (£49.99, Next Clearance Sale). She clearly needs Child Benefit.
Let's have a whip round. Nobody should be forced to live like that.

[peedoffbird]

Oh my word. How will she cope without her £120 a month. I mean earning £100,000 a year is on the verge of living in poverty! Stupid cow. That makes me rage.

[LynetteScavo]

"But why should my children lose out, simply because their parents have had the temerity to work hard and earn a good living?"

Her children aren't going to miss out on anything, though.

Having said that, I think CB for all should stay.

[CaptainNancy]

I agree lynette- child benefit should be universal, in fact all benefits should. If you remove benefits for all, people will question why they're paying taxes, and ultimately avoid them.
We have a progressive tax system after all.

[samandi]

What a daft bint. There's no reason why CB shouldn't be cut from high earners IMO. If she's worried about her kids missing out, maybe she should've had less kids in the first place.

[FlumpsRule]

I think CB should be for all children born and raised here by uk taxpayers. Other benefits are means tested and high earners pay more tax and probably spend more to contribute to economy.

I am not a high earner & really need the CB to keep head above water at the moment.

[niceguy2]

Classic DM and par for the course. Not sure what people expect.

[LaVolcan]

It's difficult to find any sympathy for her. However, I could say, although it doesn't apply in this case, that there could be times when the man was earning significant amounts but not passing it on to his wife and family, leaving them substantially badly off.

Nor has the government thought it through properly - it doesn't seem entirely fair that a family with two earners getting £49K apiece keep the benefit, but that a family with one person earning £51K would start to lose the benefit.

[mumsneedwine]

Said all this on another thread, but thought I'd offer another angle.
I have 5 children (2 of my own and 3 of my sister who we adopted when she died). My husband earns over £50k and I earn £8k and we will lose our CB. That's a huge chunk of money for us as we take home just enough to meet mortgage and bills. Nothing spare for holidays, any extras.
My friend & her husband both earn about £49k and already take home over £3k a month more than us, but they keep their CB.
Just because some silly rich woman is moaning does not mean those of us in the middle of this can afford to lose CB. Stupidly, if my husband changes to a 4 day week we will be better off !! He will pay less tax, contribute less to government but can claim more. V v v stupid.

[Tryharder]

But mumsneedwine, the majority of high earners do not need child benefit. It's nice to have it, sure, but its an extra rather than an essential. If you earn £58k as a family, what would your take home pay be? £3000? If that is being swallowed entirely by mortgage and bills suggests to me that you have a lovely, expensive house. All high income earners could argue that their entire income is spent on living and they have nothing left at the end of the month after paying for school fees, business class flights and foreign holidays.

[mumsneedwine]

We live in a 3 bed house and mortgage is £1000. Have outlined bills etc on other thread but we have £25 left each month. Our food bill is over £800 (7 people eat a lot - especially the teenage ones !!), and we both use our cars for work. I really wish I was rich, but we never have any money. I would love to know how other people manage their fancy holidays ! And if this supposed to hit the rich, then why is it not applied to the two income household who are a heck of a lot richer than us (if one more person tells me it's because they have childcare costs I will scream - so do I). I am curious to know how many people would support this if if applied to all families on a joint income of £50k !

[mumsneedwine]

Oh and all kids at state school and we can't afford to even fly let alone go business class !

[freetoanyhome]

stupid whinging woman. Food and fuel isnt magically cheaper on low incomes. She gets 100K. I'd gladly give up CB to get 100K.
I agree the 2 income thing is daft though and ill thought out.

[weegiemum]

I'm glad I'm losing cb. We don't need it. Dh is a GP and earns more than the 60k threshold. I'd rather the money went to someone who needed it.

I will still claim and get it clawed back from dh's tax as I still want to get my hrp payments till dd2 is 12.

[freetoanyhome]

she also forgets the state supplies education, healthcare, defence, roads, police, fire brigade etc etc. Claiming that high earners 'get nothing back'.

[Dededum]

We will be losing it as earn quite a lot over the threshold. We choose to live in a very nice area and have a big mortgage but that is own choice. I am very aware of how lucky we are, yes we have worked hard but so much of our good fortune is luck.

And yes, no problems with losing it.

People are odd, my parents are quite liberal in outlook and are very rich. My mum was so excited about getting her bus pass, was surprised that she applied for it. When I explained that she did not need it and she was taking money from the state she was surprised. No idea if she continued to use it.

[mumsneedwine]

It seems that it's those of us on the threshold who are going to miss it - it's the equivalent of a £5,000 pay cut. If I earned £100k I'm sure I wouldn't miss it, be we earn half that and still lose it. However, we have found a loophole !!! Apparently it is worked out on taxable income, so if husband pays more into his pension we still keep CB & will not be more than £50 worse off !!! This has got to be the stupidest, ill thought out policy ever invented. They will get less tax from us, we will get a better pension and we can still claim the benefit (& balance the book).

[LornMowa]

mumsneedwine Slight thread hijack, but are you eligible for Guardian's Allowance? That may ease the financial strain for you.

[mumsneedwine]

No, cos we adopted kids. Was so complicated otherwise with school and social services. Means we get no help at all. Love em all to bits so never going to complain. Just need the CB to keep head above water at moment. Ah well, can always start cleaning again (on top of current job). Isn't being 'rich' great !!!

[mumsneedwine]

Thanks for thinking of us !!!