To be scared sh*tless about the cuts being made.

[lissieloucifer]

We will be hit very, very hard by these cuts. dh is out of work, and has been for some time. he has finally been offered a p/t job (min 12h contract) at a local shop but there is genuinely nothing else out there for him. we receive full HB and CTB, have one child and I am unable to work due to a severe form of teitzes, I did work for Iceland but even working on the till made my condition worse. I receive IB.

my condition (while I am in constant "humming" pain) is subject to flare ups. and flare ups often occur after something as simple as shopping. there is no cure and I am likely to get worse. I am terrified that the DWP (under new guidelines) will take away our HB and CTB because dh cant get a full time job. I am terrified that I will be pronounced fit to work when (if you look at my records) I am not.

anyone else want to sit with me and quake as the coalition plunge us back into poverty?

yes dinosaur,i lived through the miners strike,i remember food shortages for my classmates.
i remember mum making up food parcels too.

Of course you aren't being unreasonable.

DH works for local council so we are worried about the imminent job cuts.

I am desperately trying to find a 2nd job and not having much luck (same for everyone)

We are going back to the thatcher years and yes I am worried.

My DP Job is no longer secure, no pay rise for 3 years and increase in rent yet decrease in LHA. I just hope I have a job at the end of my degree.

The trouble is everyone thinks their needs should be met and ringfenced, nobody I'd admitting they could manage without so the decision is being made fir them.

It is very scary. We live in Hungary but are moving back to UK next year. Financially we are very lucky and will be ok but I remember being a child and money was very tight. I think it is such a shame that that is going to be the norm for children again.

I do understand that the cuts need to be deep but unfortunately it is always those who can least afford it who are asked to accept the biggest cuts.

The child benefit proposal is so shockingly unfair words fail me.

Just planning where to set the shanty town up. I would like woodland preferably, but a public park could do it. I'm sharpening my spade so I can create a network of open sewers and a well, and just measuring the bed to check we can fit the whole family in top to toe. If anyone would like to help me gather firewood, please feel free

As I've been saying for years there is only a certain amount that can be spent and if people had not wasted it when times were good funding stupid projects and overpaying quongs etc then the Money would be there for the vunerable now. How about we ask all the public sector workers to take a pay cut to save their jobs, which is exactly what has happened in the private sector. Maybe that's the answer.

I remember when this bunch of shits was in power last time. These cuts will plunge us back into recession and hurt the most vulnerable. I remember the homeless in parks and sleeping on the streets. I remember riots, boarded up shops, going hungry and being unable to afford to heat the house (I stole wood to make a fire); standing outside a shop thinking shall I buy Tampax or milk for the baby? The Bank interest rate shot up to 15 per cent. We lost our house and ended up bankrupt.

My dad died during surgery because he had waited so long for the operation and his condition had deteriorated.

They were terrible times - I am very afraid. They haven't got a fucking clue and they don't care. Big Society aka Bull Shit!

...and breathe...

I refuse to spend time worrying about it all - the whole thing just makes me so angry if I start to think about it. It really does seem like the bankers are being told well done chaps for fucking everything up, don't worry we'll get it all back from the babies, the disabled & the old folk - now where are we lunching today, ra ra ra?

So I'm taking the attitude what will be will be & I'm just going to deal with stuff as it comes my way & pray both DP & I keep our jobs (DP's job is very threatened & we've only just recovered from him being made redundant at the start of this debacle). Many people are worse off than us & I'm working on an escape route. It's a bummer immigration is so expensive.

Until then I'm pretty much ignoring the news (this is balanced out in our house by DP who is a news hound) & focusing on the good stuff in life. As long as they can't tax a picnic in the park (our main weekend activity) I shall stay this way (I hope).

it's not just the cuts to worry about, its the increases in food and particulary petrol costs.DH and I both have jobs fortunately but between us we commute about 150 miles a day, and that's not counting using the car to get shopping, drop kids etc - we live in a sem-rural area and public transport is crap . Our petrol bill is already huge and there is no option for car sharing. Maybe I can work from home one day a week...
DD1 has just been laid off from her part-time job so will be home all day either freezing or racking up heating bills.

exactly, when you take into consideration not just income and add on increases in basic living expenditure.... so many people will be screwed!

how did you all fare??

we are going to be hit pretty badly under the universal benefit. they are abolishing ESA, but no mention of IB which is what I receive.

Lissieloucifer: You'll be transferred onto ESA soon (in theory) - depends on your area.

They said the people they were transferring last were SDA etc b/c more of those claimants are close to retirement, and they tend to be the more complex claimants.

shit, there is no way that I will able to work in a year. my condition is progressive.

We are one of the "well off" apparently, as DH is (just) a higher rate tax payer. I'm a SAHM so with 4 young children we will lose all Child Tax Credit and Child Benefit (well we will if DH keeps his job that is).

I feel like DH is being penalised for daring to go to uni, get 2 degrees and pull himself up the ladder a bit.

Yes we could be a whole lot worse off but these cuts will hit everyone unless you are super rich, I am particularly worried about education and the NHS.

I sometimes wonder why don't they just hike Income Tax 1p or something? Must be easier to implement than taking money from here there and everywhere? One hike across the board surely is better?

how do we know what this universal benefit is??

and it says EMA to be replaced....with what?

Mammatomany - I agree. Private sector went through redundancies and pay cut/freezes TWO years ago. The public sector has had two extra years on us. I find it a bit weird that we're supposed to think it's really unfair...
Everyone is being affected by these cuts. These cuts are because labour are a useless bunch of stupid fuckers.

Riven, tell me a bit more about disabled children ending up with pressure sores because of no physio. This should not happen, pressure sores (evil things) should be prevented by good continuing care, not physio. Can parents not do enough at home to prevent pressure sores? I have some physio training as I used to work as a physio technician, and if I heard of any children where I live suffering like that I'd be straight round there. Although I'm not qualified so have no insurance...

It is a worry for a lot of people... just when most other countries are coming out of the recession & recovering, we are going into something that is very worrying... it is all quite scary.