Child benefit changes - what do you think?

[KateMumsnet]

Next week, the Inland Revenue will write to 1.2m families about upcoming changes to child benefit eligibility. The changes mean that from next January, single-income families earning more than £50,000 per year will no longer be eligible for the full amount (currently worth £1,055 for the first child) - and those earning over £60K will no longer receive it at all.

The changes are controversial. Dual-income families who both earn just below the 50K cut-off - who have, in other words, a family-income of just under £100K per year - will continue to receive the full amount, leading to criticism that the changes penalise both stay-at-home mothers and single parents. Accountants are warning that new partners of divorced parents could also lose out. And the entire process is so complicated - with families forced to fill out complex self-assessment forms for the first time - that the Inland Revenue has reportedly postponed sending out the letters because they can't find a form of words that families will be able to understand.

What do you think? Will you be affected by the changes, and what will it mean for your family? Are stay-at-home mothers being unfairly targeted - or is staying at home a luxury which shouldn't be subsidised by the taxpayer? Should child benefit be universal - or should it be available only to families who are really struggling? Let us know what you think here on the thread, and don't forget to post your URLs if you blog on this subject - we'll be tweeting them over the next few days.

Someone from another EEA country can claim it when living here - even if their children don't

Scrap the "benefit" - no poverty nowadays.

Just ask my mother of 12 children ;).x

I have accepted it is going but its the sneaky way it's being phased out, as I said the threshold will be lowered and then incorporated into universal credit, which will be a great success of course.

StrangerDanger, Yes, they should just scrap it. That would be much fairer and just tax everyone less. It would save on having to pay an army of bureaucrats to administer too. Not great for HMRC employees, but a significant saving for the country.

Savannah girl and guineapiglet if only more were up for a protest. Disappointed by MNHQ's stance.

I don't understand why when a single income over the threshold is being penalised, everyone immediately cries that the MORE people (who need it too) should be penalised? Whenever child benefit cuts is mentioned, families with two earners earning near the 50k mark immediately get attacked.

Both DH and I are in no way earning near the cut off (poor people too), but if it was lowered and it affected us, I would say we should still get it because all my salary plus some of DH's salary goes into childcare/transportation cost to help me stay in a job I enjoy whilst waiting for DC to both attend school (even then breakfast and after school club, holiday club costs are astronomical). Why we would deserve it less than, say, a SAHP with an earning partner who are probably not paying all the childcare costs?

I completely agree it's unfair to single earners and it should definitely stay universal, but rather than 'attacking' another vulnerable group who would still need the child benedit, shouldn't all threads, news, articles and arguments be on the fact that - if the cut off is based on a person's income, then surely the other parent(or carer) not earning over the threshold can then claim it? e.g. if one earns over £60k, the other earning £6k can claim it....

Yes, the govt do need funds to send out more murderers to illegal wars..

Just adding my name to the hundreds above who think it's horribly unfair way to calculate who should and should not receive CB. Also the thought of having to fill in a tax return fills me with horror, the child tax credit form was hard enough. How is this going to be workable?

pofacedalways I think the reason MNHQ won't tackle this one is because there are also a lot of MNers who stand to lose money with all the changes being made to disability benefits, tax credits, housing benefits etc so I guess if they stood up for CB they would also have to take on all the other welfare cuts too.
I know it's not the losing of it most of us are cross about, it's the anomalous way in which it is being done which is causing the anger, but there are many people on here who won't see it like that

Yes, that's the thing StrangerDanger, the money saved from this cut (if any at all) will just be wasted on their pet vanity projects in any case. I guarantee it won't be used to help the really poor.

I am pretty much of the opinion that until we are told otherwise I will do nothing. We also have not had a letter. I certainly will not be volunteering to fill in a tax return. I'm still hoping that this will prove to be unworkable and will have to be rescinded.

Why are we worrying about this. Maybe it is a bit unfair to some but in the grand scale of injustices this is not even on the scale. I'm not going to lose sleep that people on a fabulous income are going to miss out on a few benefits.

Leaving aside real international injustices. In this country I think we really need to be worrying about crazy the pay scale we have. Some people earn next to nothing for really hard work, some people earn so much they haven't got a clue where to begin spending it. It is madness.

Fabulous income PMSL at that one.

People on the higher tax band earning 50 k don't get an awful lot more in their pocket after all bills are paid than a family claiming benefits.

Either we're paying out fabulous benefits or our higher tax band is too low,can't have it both ways.

That's exactly my take on it loubielou31. I'm sure that will be the case in the end.

What I find interesting is that most of the posters here seem to think that a £50k household salary isn't very much and complain that they're struggling. It makes me think I must be living in abject poverty as I have to "survive" on around £15k and I'm a single parent who gets no help from her ex. I also live in the south east and am another one who's worked bloody hard all her life and have never had the luxury, as many of you do, of a husband who supports them.

Surely it's right that those who are well-off (and to me, anyone who earns considerably over the average salary of £26,500 is very comfortable) should be means-tested so that lower income families who really need it, get it. Perhaps some of you would feel better about this if they spent some time in my shoes, and realise how lucky you are.

Soba people have repeatedly compared the middle income salaries to those whose income is supplemented by various benefits and they aren't exactly worlds apart particularly when you factor in sky high mortgages for shoeboxes and higher tax on top,now no CB.

SobaSoma - I'm in exactly the same position as you, although I earn less than you do, but then I don't live in the south-east. I feel exactly the same as you. Well put.

Anyone worrying about this needs to realise that half the country earn less than £16,000 a year. It just makes you all look completely greedy and selfish.

*happybubblebrain" would your message to dual income families on £99,000 be to voluntarily give up their CB (even though they are entitled to it) as they clearly don't need it either?

My income is supplemented by tax credits and I still earn around 25% of what most people here are on. So I for one, am worlds apart from the rest of you (apart from happy :))

Anyway happy perhaps we shouldn't really be on this thread, it's not really for the likes of us is it?

I have received no letters at all. Many others have said they received letters a while back now. What does it mean if they haven't contacted me? Are they going to leave me the fuck alone?

Soba people have listed incomes and outgoings several times to compare incomes between the squeezed middle and those on benefits and when you factor in all benefits alongside stinking mortgages for very little,commuting costs,higher tax,no CB,free school meals etc it is quite surprising.

That aside false assumptions of the lot of the squeezed middle shouldn't be a reason to excuse blatant unfairness ie those on double that of a family on 50k keeping their CB whilst a family on 50-60 k lose it.

Also by your logic those on lower than you have shouldn't complain as they're waaaaay better off than those in developing countries who get no support what so ever.

Bed I've not had a letter either,not a flyer or even a leaflet-zilch!

It's made me REALLY mad - and I can't be arsed to get mad about much.
It's not a fair system. I take home a piddlley wage a month , hubby just over the threshold . It's a big part of our income gone . Our children are adopted too so why should we not get this . It's arse.

What really gets me that those on say 60k single salary will already be paying more tax than a family with 2x 30k,so we're already helping the treasury more before you even start unfairly taking CB away!