im so anxious about threats to cut ctc...

Slushy I typed as he said. Although I did have to sky+ a few times to keep up

'Corporation tax will be cut by 1%'

Because those poor corporations really need a break.

Not like us mothers squandering government cash on childcare whilst we swan off to work.

What does 'Align the threshold for child & family element' mean? Does it mean once you are not eligable for child tax credit you won't get family element?

Income disregard I think is if your income changes in the year of the award.

Ronshar is that decided?

Remove element baby from next year.
£40k plus reduction.
Align the threshold for child & family element.
Reduce the income disregard form £25k. I dont know what that means mind you?
No more pregnancy grant.
Restrict the sure start grant to first child only.
Single parents to find work when youngest child go to school.

Child benefit unchanged but frozen for 3 years.

Watching the budget with interest!

I've only read to pg 3, but I can tell you, DP and I are incredibly worried about any changes to tax credits. DP works bluddy hard in a 37.5hr a week job, and gets £16,000 a year for his troubles. I can't work due to being disabled (with Epilepsy) and we have 3 dc's, soon to be 4. Without the ctc & wtc, we would be better off if he stopped work, as we would in no way shape or form be able to cover our living costs on one £16,000 wage. I didn't chose to be dxd with epilepsy, I was working a 60hr a week job until that point (after dc3 was born, I was dxd). I have now been unable to find ANYONE willing to employ me. YES we are having one last child, but it was conceived before the election and before any hoo-ha about tax credits being 'got rid of'. This was our last child, we both came from large families, and wanted that ourselves. How the heck are we meant to manage on such a low income? If minimum wage was actually a livable amount of money, then maybe....I mean, we don't have holidays, our clothes come from supermarkets and charity shops, we only go on day trips with the dc's 3 times a year after saving up for months (and that includes the beach/zoo). We can't afford to run a car, yet my partner works full time. Maybe if all these politicians tried to feed a family on sixteen grand a year, they might see how essential ctc/wtc is, or raise minimum wage to a decent amount!

Lego - I know quite a lot. You're right that they are not the majority, of course, and that maintenance can be unreliable. But those that DO receive it regularly should have it taken into account. It could be calculated by the tax year based on what was actually received, rather than projected forwards and based on what is expected. (I do know about this - I'm a divorce lawyer)

Anyone who struggles to budget while holding the moral high ground by saying "we don't claim tax credits and child benefit" is plainly idiotic . Aimed at barmyarmy and others here who have said as much.

The money is budgeted for and you are entitled to it so stop being such bloody martyrs and claim it. I budget carefully too and would be broke without thre CB and CTC I have to (note HAVE TO) claim. Therefore if you don't claim it and manage by "budgeting carefully" then you have plenty more than I and many others do to live on.

interesting thread.
for the first time in my adult life i am actually concerned about this budget.
Dh took a pay cut last year and now earns 17,500k, i work part time and was hoping to up my hours in sept. currently together we earn £22k and we were hoping with my increase in hours in sept once DD goes to school our income would go up to £26k. Currently we get £120 a week TC. We get no help with childcare which was why dh took a pay cut and demotion infirst place so that we could work childcare out between us!
Todays budget will basically decided if i work at all! i love my job and am doing a degree too BUT we cant afford to lose our TC at all. If the choice is between getting TC and working less or working more ( i would have to work an extra 20 hours a week to earn the tc amount!) then i know what i will do!
what a bizarre situation!

Yes, lets see what they come up with.

FWIW, I work in the private sector and don't have any animosity to public sector workers. I think a lot of the so called division between public and private is whipped up by the media.

'We don't need well paid police officers, or probation officers, or social workers to do their jobs well. '

Well you'd have to define well paid but I am looking at sw training (as aature grad with nexperience in a related field) and if it's too low paid it won't cover my student loan repayments and childcare so will be impossible.

And if it's too low many, incluidng me, will simply opt for charitable sector which is where I come from.

We need tp recruit people who are capable. Wages in public sector shouldn't be record high but do need to be enough.

BarmyArmy youa re talking rot many peopple on low incomes were not a few eyars back, and that will get mroe common with cuts throughout public services.

We sell equipment to people with a particular type of econd income and a lot of our customers are just voer the cut off, we have noted sales plummet in the alst week and having asked around a lot say they will have to give up their second jobs if TC cut off is £25k as it would push them over the threshold and they can't earn enough to replace it ATM as what we do is a 'luxury' market (no not pyramid in any way, equipment for entertainement LOL).

Interesting flip side should this force people into giving up ways of becoming increasingly self supporting....

My takehome pay is £849 per month in the public sector. Today GO will increase petrol prices and possibly increase VAT as well as freeze my pay.

cut the public sector. Makes sense. We don't need well paid police officers, or probation officers, or social workers to do their jobs well.

I'm finding the public sector bashing in the media, and by the woman suggesting a 10% pay cut on channel 4 last night, depressing. In '99 I remember being on 14K (teaching) - well below private sector salaries. And in much of the public sector there were/are no bonuses. It didn't matter how hard you worked you didn't get a nice reward at the the end of the financial year to reflect how well you had done.

The unions worked really hard to deliver national pay agreements that improved the situation, but professions like teaching, nursing, the police still aren't fantastically paid.

In teaching (for example) it takes years to break the 30K barrier - it's not as the adverts suggest, where the govt imply that a 30K pay packet is the norm.

Yes, the private sector have felt pain, but when things improve it's the private sector who will feel the benefits again. Not frontline public sector workers, or civil servants who actually keep the wheels of our country turning.

Up until 2 years ago people left teaching all the time for private sector jobs because they were better paid. People need to have longer memories.

And if they want to squeeze the pay of teachers, nurses, police officers, dr's then they damn well should not be allowed to claim any expenses on their salaries. They are touting 25K as being a middle income where people shouldn't need any help....in that case their 60K should be a feckin' fortune

It is ruled out tbh. My husband and I have been tentatively ruling it out for a few years, these cuts just hammer the last nail into the coffin.

But there is no point moaning or wailing about it. That will change nothing, you have to dust yourself off and carry one

ok ... i hope things change then at some point for you and you feel that you can go for it .. as it sounds like you haven't ruled it out

I just found number 2 a lot cheaper ... my desire for a second child overuled any worries I had about money, and I don't deem that irresponsible

and just to bring it back round I do get tax credits ... for the now

At present, paying for care for elderly relatives, endless trips back and forwards etc we cannot afford a child at the moment with the associated childcare costs. We also could not afford for me to stay at home.

do you really mean then that you wouldn't be able to afford to send two of them to university? I worry about that with my two - but dont regret my financial oversight for a second!

I don't usually do 85, it was a mad week in a mad month - hence DH logging my hours!

I don't want a bonus, I don't want a payrise I just want to no longer be demonised. Ironically I used to work in the city - so I have been a shit for all my adult life.

Yes it would, as I said we have elderly parents and grandparents to look after. I have been blessed with a clever child, I have also worked hard and been successful in my career, as had my husband so we will recieve no help with university fees.

I am not getting into the heartbreak there is no point.

We do live quite frugally, second hand clothes, camping holidays, all home made food, wear extra jumpers rather than put heating on etc.

haha, you beat me then; I only did 65 hours work last week in total. Funny thing is, despite that 65 hour working week in the public sector, meeting all my targets etc, I didn't get a bonus . Shame really because that's not bad value for money.

horn

"we all have to live within the limits of our income - If the above cuts happen then we have to limit our family"

I have read this whole thread and I think its heartbreaking if you really think you can't afford another child, if thats what you really want.

Surely there are lots of ways to live frugally and still bring up a happy healthy family. Would number 2 really leave you on the breadline?