Tax Credits = benefit-dependent society?

This is an old thread thejessa and thankfully the opinions are not representative of all here. I am in the same boat as you and would go under without the tax credit/working tax credit I receive.

I am shocked at so many of your opinions on this page, I work 18 hours a week because there are no more hours available, I work at minimum wage because despite having earned 36k a year before having my daughter, I was made redundant whilst pregnant and have been completely unable to get a job anywhere in the same payscale as apparenttly that kind of wage doesnt exist in brighton. my husband is a self employed graphic designer who used to earn 24K but now the competition is so fierce he is lucky if he earns seven and usually costs about four to earn that. I have two children a 15 year old and a two year old and we started claiming tax credits two years ago when all the money went. i was back at work four weeks after giving birth as we couldnt survive. we dont want to claim benefits, we are working and surviving on less than £200 a month. I rang tax credits to tell them my childcare was now at three afternoons a week and they have cut our credits by a 100 a month, so that not only am i paying out an extra 20 for childcare but am losing a 100 on top of that. you do the math, we as a family of four are trying to survive on 20 pounds a month. How the hell is anyone supposed to survive this stupid bloody government? we have to live in appaling conditions because we cant afford to move, my children have been in and out of hospital because of illnes caused by damp. this feels like the last straw. if i really let myself think about it it would be kinder to just end it for all of us, but I am just not that way inclined. I have been owrking since i was eleven as has my husband. I am not a lazy scrounger who doesnt see work pay and I am sick to the eye teeth of people pointing at those who are and saying that everyone is like that. if you are going to make that your code please get some real information dont just base your opinions on the daily mail.

Yes but yo have had a seriously rough time MC and you have done incredibly to keep going!

Respect! at getting a brilliant result. I've been suffering from baby brain for 18 years now, and slowly sliding into menopausal doo-lallitude, it's only a matter of time till Senile Dementia takes over...

Gave birth

to ds3 forgot the b

ds4 was born a month before finals; I got an A

I am not useless (that was to me, nobody else)

I did work MC- right up until I went to Uni in 2005, then gave irth and went back to do PT MA

So not as if I had any real time out IYSWIM- Degree was supposed to elad to teaching but they moved the specific centre I would have to attend to the toehr side of Wales

Technically I should be a year into a teaching RE career with a specialism in racial awareness and the hsitory of the slave trade

And its such a silly waste of cash for the government- I do a TA course and I can start paying abck the £12k I owe them.

You'd think they want it wouldn't you? Deficit and all.

There's a chance I can do the social services conversion in a few eyars depedning on DH's workload, we shall see

Bloody hell, it's not easy is it? Am v v glad I stuck to working albeit for nothing for years when mine were little, it's so hard to get back on the train once you've jumped off (or been pushed off in some cases)

So I went and called the council about teh summer playscheme jobs

I ahve a post grad cert in Autiism, am working towards the MA; past employment with HomeStart; plenty of chidlcare experiecne including being a former Guider

They will only take applications from qualified TA's as there are so many out of work now

Spoke to college that does TA training

Becuase I have a degree I have to pay full cost of course, way out of my reach. Speak to job centre, soemtimes they can help.

Job Centre- carers don't qualoify for help geting back into work.

Can't work from home as kids would kick off and DH already does and needs the workspace; looks like I am stuffed eh.

I mean for working from home type jobs..

Have you seen this already?

www.reed.co.uk/CareerTools/Default.aspx

"I don't really have skills" Riven! How can you say that?
That makes me sad.You are an excellent communicator, you manage a ridiculously pressured home enviroment, multi tasking, patience, time management, didnt I see on another thread that you held you own in a meeting with the new (lives in hope) prime minister..? You have skills by the bucket load you wally. There are HEAPS of things you could do. Come on.

I bet you have more skills than i do. I'm just an opinionated gob shite

Hi Riv,

Ill happily do a freebie for you. don't have CAT but pls mail [email protected] with your email addy & we'll sort it out.

well, after tomorrow everything could change!

I think we're very much in a "wait and see" situation at the moment. Who knows what could change?!

Oh and the point about the government is very valid i think. Otherwise why would they set 'being in employment' so low at 16 hours?

Somethings a foot!

Heehee, I love a good debate!

Agreed - there are a lot of incentives encouraging part time work, but none, that I have seen, encouraging full time.

Maybe it's all part of the governments agenda to appear to be doing something about unemployment. Don't know what the figures are, but if half of those people started work part time, with help from the government, well, that would look bloody fantastic wouldn't it? "hey, look at all these people we've helped get back into work, unemployment figures are down by 50%, aren't we great?!"

A lot of people do make excuses as to why they can't work.

Hell, my brother is 18, he lives with my dad, has no children/responsibilities/commitments etc, yet trying to make him get off his arse and get a full time job is like trying to push an elephant up a slide!

Oh, and you're not an old witch, fiesty yes, but not a witch lol

I've actually enjoyed the debate

Thanks, cordon. I?m a feisty old witch, I know. The problem is that I get really upset when I hear people say I CANT. So many women want to do so many things and get held back by telling themselves, I can?t because I have children, or I can?t because I am a single mum - even dare I say it 'I cant because Im a woman' - . Quite happy to believe that there are women out there who have some kind of amazing strength or energy or this illusive 'support' from famlily members etc who are therefore able to do what they cannot. Before benefits, tax credits etc people had to push themselves to just get on with it but now there is, IMO, too much support/ choices that enable people to opt out.

Of course there are loads of individual situations. Depression, illness, redundancy, sick children etc etc but in a 'normal' situation where a mother is healthy and able to work, I really do genuinely beleive that there should be no reason why she should not. The availability of financial support doesnt encourage this.

Thats my opinion, and i think I am entitled to it because it is my tax after all that helps support peoples choices.

What about people who dont have children.. a friend of mine went on a rant recently because she had spoken to a lady at her workplace who worked 2.5 days a week and had a daughter at school full time. She told her she neednt work full time because tax credits and benefits topped up her salary to where it would be if she worked full time

I dont really know what the solution is? Maybe the government could employ me to visit each household and decide who is deserving and who is not? I could give little lifecoaching talks too? Joke.

'When did it become so frowned upon for mums to stay at home in their childrens early years.
'

I have found it is either people who care purely about overall economic wellbeing (ie GB) and not individuals or other mothers who are working and worried that they are not doing the right thing (but think if all others did the same as them then they would maybe not think this) or who are resentful that some get to stay home while they don't/can't. That is just my gut feeling on this, I am not saying all WOHMs think this way, when I was one I didn't.

I think tax credits are, overall, great. My DH is on above average wage but we get some. We could cope without though. I think single parents should be able to stay home till their kids are older and then be able to work part time.

Studies have shown that tax credits enable some mums to stay home but that issue is 'outweighed' by the fact that they help single parents into work (according to the Gov).

I am a SAHM by choice (since having DC2) but have 5 DC so would find it too much anyway paying for someone else to have them and my DC5 has health issues. I see my 'job' as caring for them and I am also saving us money on childcare and enabling DH to work odd and changeable hours. I don't care what others think of that to be honest and see the way things are as not really 'normal' anyway compared with culturally or historically. You get one life, do what makes you happy.

I don't feel I should be doing paid work at all (at this point in time). I have enough to do. Saying that, I am doing a degree and volunteer when I can so put alot back. I will probably want a career when the kids are older or grown up but who knows. (I started young so will have plenty of work years left).

Each to their own.

ok, agree with you that once children are all in school full time, then unless there are health/disability issues, then there are very few reasons why a mother cannot work full time.

That goes for both single parents and those married/with a partner.

But, while full time working straight away may be the 'ideal', there are other aspects to consider. For instance, if a woman has been a sahm for a minimum of 5 years (be it on benefits or because their partners salary enables them to do so) then in the short term at least, part time working offers them the chance to ease themselves back into the world of employment, gain qualifications and experience, and help them to adjust to a new lifestyle change, before they go full time.

You could see the ability to do that as a luxury, but for many parents, going back to work is a daunting prospect, especially if it's the first time that they are leaving their children in childcare.

Your moral code is such that anything less than full time working is not good enough. Fair enough, you have high standards for yourself and that is actually something that I can admire and respect.

Nothing is always black and white though and sometimes you have to accept that other peoples way of thinking, while different to yours, is not necessarily wrong.

Tax credits, wrongly or rightly, are there to help people. If they were scrapped for anyone working less than full time, a lot of people would fall into abject poverty. They would end up on benefits like income support etc.

Ps, you have 4 kids, two of which aren?t at school yet? that?s not the same as when mums with 1 or 2 kids at school say they CANT work full time because they are mums?

I don?t exactly choose to work full time, it?s a duty I have as a fit and able person with skills to work every hour that I can to support my family. The alternative would be to work part time and claim tax credits to top up my salary (at least it would have been when I was single but wouldn?t get any now, my salary is too high and mine and DPs jointly is def too high) I just couldn?t have done it.

Basically, looking after children is not what I call a ?job? it?s hard work yes, no one doubts that. And a worthwhile thing of course. But at the end of the day my obligation to my children is to support them financially and build a future for all of us. Also to set an example as I really don?t think I could cope with my daughter staying home to raise children when she is older.

Riven, sorry no I wasn?t going to offer you a job but if I know what area you live in I may be able to give you some useful contacts

Riven, is there anything you can do on a self employed basis, eg I've just started a will writing business as I only work 3 days and am bored.

You were an academic, weren't you, in your former life? Could you do tutoring for GCSEs, Alevels from home? All those years of HEing must have built up loads of skills which people would be prepared to pay for.

It's v v hard to find a pt job, but starting up your own business may have alot of advantages.

BTW does anyone want a will doing? I'm cheap as chips