AIBU to claim child benefit?

[tooposhtopost]

This morning, I heard a minister being interviewed (didn't catch who) saying that he hoped that 40% tax payers would "do the right thing" and stop claiming child benefit.

The top earners already pay 50% tax, get no tax relief on our pension contributions and often do not overburden the state (eg private education for the DC, private healthcare).

I have always claimed CB - well, it arrives by direct debit. I have seen it as a tiny weeny small rebate of tax in recognition of the fact that we have the extra cost of having children who will be the ones supporting all of us when we get old. So should I be disclaiming it?

Who else would like to know if any government ministers (or their wives) claim CB or whether they are leading by example and eschewing it?

Maybe the government could have chat with my local LEA and get them to give me the £5000 they save on not having to fund a school place for ds plus the cost of an Ed Psych and SEN support that I also have to pay for.

What a sad thread really.

I'm notsayin your children shouldn't haVE £45 shoes or music lessons but why is the gverment paying for those for you?

Surely you can't disagree that if one family recieves CB and spends it on expensive shoes and music lessons and the other family uses it for its weekly food shop and to put gas and electricity on the meter (which is all that we do with it) then something is wrong there by both these families getting it?

I would LOVE my kids to have music lessons, but before that I have to think... DS needs trainers for school - we will get them from the cheap sports shop but that means getting the bus to town which will cost nearly £5 each for DH and me... the kids need some winter PJS, will get themm from primark and one of my biggest worries at the mon=ment is starting to put money away for Christmas whilst trying to put EXTRA away for heating as it gets colder. My 2 DSs also need new duvets as I don't think the ones they have are cutting it anymore.

So those violin lessons are just going to have to wait in our house.

oh this whole thread is winding me up. wish id never started to read it!

you know, there are benefit 'players' who buck the trend and life a very nice life thank you, and yes i do know some and yes i do know their full history (i was married to one of them!)and of course there are people who through no fault of there own desperately need the benefits and i am very very happy that the system helps the latter, but equally, there are high earners who are not exactly living the rich life and are making do and mending (and yes i know of these people intimately too) and for whom this loss could really tip the balance and send them into massively soaring debt just to keep aroof over their childrens heads and food in their bellies, pay packet is not a reason to judge peoples lives thank you

oh, you are right. There is absolutely no way I NEED child benefit. Nor do I need a smart estate car, or a 6 bedroomed house, or several foreign holidays a year, or a large screen TV, or several ipads and iphones, or designer clothes but AIBU to have them if I can legitimately afford them? Should I be giving away all my money until I am left with the same as the UK average? .....perhaps I should, but if not, then I cannot understand why I should pick on CB as a way to voluntarily reduce my income?

And Mollie- I agree. My poor sister is paying approx £700/month on pre and after school club for her two so that she is able to go to work full time. Their father contributes nothing. If there were only one child it may have been more financially viable to send him or her to private school for the wraparound care.

My CM wanted to charge £40 per day for school days and £55 a day for holidays. I pay £4 per day for wraparound care at school and £30 for holiday club. That was for one child! I couldn't find anyone else to do the hours I needed and was gobsmacked when I discovered that private school would actually be cheaper!

I could very easily use the child benefit to buy food and take the other things out of household income if that would make people feel better. It goes into a separate account so that it doesn't get spent on taxes, bills, petrol and food, but the end result would be the same- we still need it to make ends meet. And whilst clearly there are people for whom our cb incomings would represent a higher proportion of the household income, that doesn't mean that losing it would not make a significant dent in our household. We don't buy new clothes unless they're seriously reduced in the sale or from Primark. All the children's uniform is second-hand, as is all the baby equipment and most of the clothes.

I'm loving the phrase "knee-jerk envy". Why on earth would someone who is struggling to find money for the gas bill be at all envious of someone who can afford a lot of extra luxuries? And no, being on a low income does not mean that a person has not worked hard their whole life. I hate that insidious idea that people who earn very little just haven't tried hard enough.

I don't earn anything like enough to lose CB but neither am I on the breadline. To me, taxes and benefits are part of my contract with the govt. If my salary suddenly shot through the roof, I would not need CB. If, as is possible when The Cuts come in to force, I lose my publicly funded job, I'm going to need those benefits as never before.

They will come in v handy for food and bills, and I guess I will feel quite envious of anyone who can afford enrichment activities for their DCs, shoes that didn't come from a supermarket etc.

ahh sorry gapbear - yes I see your point.

My DS's Clarkes shoes lasted one term before they were totally trashed. My DS's shoe zone shoes lasted one term before being trashed. 3x3 shoe zone shoes at £10 a pair for a school year is much cheaper than 3x3 Clarkes.

And I have H fitting children too.

tooposhtopost - nothing wrong with those things if you can legitamately afford them - out of your own pocket.

Riven- because he is an abusive shit, who will do anything to make her life difficult, and gets himself paid in cash so that he can then claim to have no income. He is actually earning more than she is.

I have been putting it in to my ds's bank account, hoping it would help towards uni fees if he went. We won't get it after 2013 and to be honest, although it grates a little, it isn't really fair that people over the 40% or 50% get it. I do sometimes feel we pay loads of tax, receive nothing back and we also pay for health care. BUT, and it's a big but, I know we are lucky to earn a good salary.

What I am not so keen on is the apparant uneven application of this. Two partners earning up to 40% tax salaries can still claim, but if one partner alone earns it, they cannot claim. Seems unfair, as both families will still have the same income.

Riven not all NRP contribute. My ex calls ds the 'non-aborted foetus'.

He is self employed and hides his income. I have got the CSA after him to get him to pay but even though they have assessed his income they can only assess on his declared income which is less than half his actual. I'm waiting for confirmation that they have collected money from him.

its actually really pissed me off that you use my tax money to sponsor a child abroad, that and the music lessons

so - she doesn't want to board - well that's tough.

I had to make that decision at 11yrs old. Board, and carry on my music, or stay at home and quit.

I'm sure if she was good enough to get into Cheathams you can find a local private school which offers music scholarships - most of the music scholarships include "free" lessons.

"tooposhtopost - nothing wrong with those things if you can legitamately afford them - out of your own pocket."---does this only apply to 'rich' people, shouldnt this apply to all except sick and disabled???

Mollie, you have my sympathy and empathy. My ex has done exactly the same for years and even a CSA tribunal case, which I won, couldn't ensure he paid anything as he provided his own accounts which were trumped up to indicate that he earned under the payment limit.

I can assure you Nordic that the government is spending far more of your tax money abroad than I am. Little Felix (not so little now) gets £18 a month to change his life. Because he's worth it.

I think the Government are being disingenuous on this one, the only way to stop people taking it is to means test it.

You cant shame people in that we all pay taxes so, to an extent, all think we are entitled to it.

The OP's private education and the other posters malawian child and music lessons (is she Madonna) clearly indicate that neither should be getting benefits. Mine goes on clothes and shoes but realistically I shouldnt get it as I could pay for this stuff out of my salary. IMO no one should get this unless they truly need the money for childrens shoes/clothes/food etc

No worries MaMoTTaT

Frankly, I don't see why people should choose to give up CB, as posters have pointed out you'd be crackers to give up free money.

It does make me cross though, when people mix up what they feel they need with what they actually need. I think people get used to a certain standard of lifestyle, and begin to feel a sense of entitlement to those things that low income families can only dream of.

I understand that some people just creep into the 40% bracket - but I bet they wouldn't consider downsizing to a smaller house, or giving up their holiday(s), or weekly Starbucks or whatever. They're so used to their standard of living that it doesn't occur to them that they are actually very lucky.

I don't mean to sound judgemental, by the way - because I suspect I would be exactly the same if I was lucky enough to be in the same position!

I used the phrase "knee jerk envy" because those calling for means testing CB are doing so despite the fact that this will not mean that there is any more money for the poor. The proposal is simply a sop for those who are unintelligent enough not to realise that complicating the benefits system makes it more, not less, expensive .....and for those who simply don't like other people being richer than they are.

Let's applaud policies that will genuinely help those struggling to pay gas bills rather than headline grabbing policies that merely pretend to. It is irrelevant that someone might be in receipt of CB and at the same time buying decent shoes for their children if taking away CB from them does not help anyone else. What is the point of it?

God, I'm in danger of bringing my chocolate hobnob back up, this thread is making me sick to my stomach:

"Let's address the poor properly, with policies that actually BENEFIT them rather than simply pandering to their knee jerk envy of those with higher earning power." - This is so wrong I barely know where to begin. Are you seriously suggesting that David Cameron et al have brought in these benefit changes to stop 'the poor' from getting all jealous like??! 'The poor' won't even benefit from it! It's not like they will receive EXTRA child benefit because those on higher incomes will no longer receive it.

"The money paid out in benefits comes from high earning people working jolly hard" - and from low earning people who also work jolly hard. 'The poor' on a minimum wage of £11.5 or so pa will also be paying taxes. You absolute moron. You should have your benefits taken away for sheer stupidity. Introduce an imbecile tax for high earners, the budget deficit would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Valhalla, this is not exactly anything to do with the thread, but you say you are in a relationship with a higher earner, but struggling to cover the basics. Don't they help out?

dutchess, what about the children in the UK living on the poverty line?

Wouldn't you her see your 'share' of CB directly passed onto a child who needs it rather than giving £18 a month to a child elsewhere then spending the rest on shoes and music lessons?

Hope that doesn't sound rude, I am just nosey curious.