Make Child Benefit a Means Tested Benefit.

[Whatabonkersworld]

So, the Winter Fuel Payment has been made means tested. According to the government older people have no need for any help to pay their winter fuel bill.
In a dose of reality here's another massive cost saving exercise. The annual bill for Child Benefit is something over £12bn. I suggest Child Benefit also become means tested and only parents who receive tax credits are eligible. Those unemployed would receive a stipend added to their universal credit, but would not be eligible for Child Benefit. This would become a strictly working persons benefit. This would save the country a huge amount of money and will hopefully pay for the inevitable pay increase recommendations for the rail workers and consultants which will shortly be coming round for negotiations.
How how does everyone like them Bananas!

Child benefit is already means-tested, the Conservatives brought that in years ago.

Child benefit is already means tested.

Fine by me. Used to save ours for children’s clothes or food, not holidays.

It's already been done! Nice try!

Child benefit is NOT means tested. There is a high income benefits charge for high earners. Not the same.

It is. Since ten years ago.

That wouldn't be popular with me. I don't earn a huge amount, but not eligible for any other benefits, and the money I get for CB is really important. It's already stopped after you earn a certain amount anyway (you pay it back through tax, if you don't voluntarily opt out). It's a really important benefit for women who are in relationships where there is financial abuse, or straightforward tightfistedness, as it is paid direct to the mother.

Edited for typos

Wouldn't save money. As many have said already means tested. And the money saved would then be used to increase the other benefits so people didn't miss out.
(I'm still salty we missed out on years of this by being just above the threshold with one earner when 2 parents could live next door be both just under and earning almost double our household combined but still recieve the benefit.....)

It would cost a lot to administrate this. As someone who is in the squeezed middle we would notice this a lot - this is used to provide clothes and major items like car seats or a bed for our child

It achieves the same result. The charge is equivalent to what the person is not entitled to according to the taper threshold.

The only difference is a timing difference. In fact, because people sometimes don't want to faff around with paying a portion back (even though they would be able to retain a portion) they don't claim it at all. So realistically, the exchequer probably does better than if it was means-tested at the beginning as opposed to the end.

I actually agree with the winter heating payment being means tested. Public money needs to go to the most vulnerable. I know many pensioners running multiple homes, brand new cars, holidays every few months etc. They don’t need it and it’s a disgrace they ever got it.

So, I also agree with means testing child benefit. I would bring down the bands to exclude more of the higher earners but keep it for people on benefits.

They're not saying that older people don't need the winter fuel payment. They're going to make it claimable only for those on pension credit and other means tested benefits. As evidenced on the thread yesterday, the vast majority of posters were agreeing and saying they had parents/relatives who didn't need it.

Why do you propose people on UC only get a stipend. A lot of UC claimants work too. Why are you suggesting penalising those in lower incomes. You seem to be saying only the middle get it?

Earning capacity is reduced by having children, so I don't agree with means testing child benefit. Comparing like to like - the old age pension is not means tested. That accounts for people similarly having reduced earning capacity due to retirement.

It's designed to go the mother - even women not on benefits can be subject to financial abuse - we see it here all the time.

So why is it acceptable to remove the WFP for all pensioners but those on pension credit? Surely in a sense of fairness, child benefit should only be accessible to parents in receipt of Tax Credit?

Well, I think it’ll be interesting in the budget. There are already rumours about further means testing funded childcare, free school meals and looking at Universal Credit amounts.🤷‍♀️

We can only hope. I'm just setting the stage!

My husband gets the child benefit and when he was a SAHD it gave him national insurance credits. We wouldn't have qualified for it under your suggestion, so what would have happened to his credits towards his state pension? How would he get them?

Given that so many people on tax credits have been transitioned over to Universal credit limiting it to people on tax credits would basically be abolishing it in the next year or two...

Child benefit is already effectively means tested. I've lost track of where the threshold sits these days, and whether anything was ever done to address the issue of single income households losing out at a much lower household income than double income households - I think the Tories raised the threshold fairly recently? I guess that could be reversed. I wouldn't take it too low though, as a lot of families will be relying on it.

I support means testing the winter fuel payment but I am concerned that the threshold is too low and that some quite vulnerable people will miss out.

It would encourage more people into work.

Child benefit already has been taken from higher earners. Remember child benefit is the equivalent of state pension which is not means tested!

So that would be no one in a few months when the final migration to universal credit happens. You do realise that UC replaces tax credits as a system.

It’s exactly the same thing…?

I wouldn’t be against a change in the rules as to how the cap works to fix the inequality between dual income households both just below threshold compared to single income households just above. I would even be open to thresholds dropping again if that massive inequality was fixed.