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?

Anyone know what "they" are doing about the dual income child benefit loophole?????

THAT really pisses me off.

I nkow I will lose my TC in April - anyone know when CB is going????

Nothing, they defended it apparently.

I don't understand why both parents have got to work to provide the 24 hours. Why can't one parent do that and the other look after young children? It doesn't make sense. Oh, just realised. It's to make it difficult to claim isnt it? Those currently working 16 hours will have to find another 8 or the other partner will. Not quite so easy to do, is it? Despicable decision. Absolutely despicable.

It is worth realising that if you can take in a few baskets of laundry, sell on ebay, make and sell crafts for home you could technically self employ as well for 8 hours. Plenty of time to get that underway as well it seems.

I'm going into aprtnership with DH who already has a small business; oh there's not much a religion grad with a post grad in ASD can do in electrical technology but if I take off the basic admin, deal with enquiries and do all the adverts (as I always did, Dh has severe dyslexia anyway) then I can maybe take enough pressure off him so he can make more £. It should be win win. I hope.

I don't think the intention is that both parents in a couple have to work.

I think the intention is that one partner in a couple can do the 24 hours, or the couple can split the work between them as long as one partner does at least 16 hours.

from www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/SpendingReview/DG_191799

Tax credits

The Chancellor announced a number of changes relating to tax credits:

* freezing the basic and 30 hour elements of tax credits for three years
* changing the Working Tax Credit eligibility rules so that couples with children must work 24 hours per week between them
* returning the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit to its previous 70 per cent level
* increasing the child element of the Child Tax Credit by a further £30 in 2011-12 and £50 in 2012-13 above indexation, meaning annual increases of £180 and then £110

AO It's the 'between tehm' thing that people are confused about; a few of us have tried to get clarification (the word in the actual review was combined) but no answer so far.

I assumed at first it was OK for one to do it but otehrs seem to think no, they eman both.

I hope they don't, it penalises huge swathes of people who are already vulnerable.

I know it's confusing and people are understandably worried, but I think it would be unworkable and impractical to expect both partners to work and I can't believe that this is what the CSR means.

Of course this is just my opinion

but I hope I'm right

Me too ao

but ambiguity from any Government always leads me to plan for the worst

We were brainstorming who this could affect yesterday and apart from the obvious- carers, partners of disable, etc- you potentially ahd the aprtner of anyone who does shift work; the aprtner of anyone who moves for their DP's work, including armed forces; the aprtner of anyone who is retraining or qualifying (my own sit. is that I am a carer and dh works on top of retraining, but not enough hours- we are going into partnership though as ds4 starts nursery next year)

The solution for many of these would be divorce I would think

They wouldn;t be that stupid, surely?

I do feel that these cuts are to enforce conservative ideology. Somehow the poor are being blamed indirectly (all that money wasted on benefits) and now the poor will have to suffer some more.
The whole country is a shambles. The economy will surely grind to a halt if there is no money to spend? TBH- I felt life was good under labour. Mabe this was inevitable anyway.

You know, I am not even convinced that the Tory Targets outside London will suffer.

If you're in London, HB is potentially by far a bigger issues than other palces (wider London obv.- SE etc)

However, if you have chosen not work and live eg in WEales (where I am ) LHA HB change is only a £12 drop whilt CTC goes up much more. Yes VAt will hurt but it will anyone.

But if you're genuinely vulnerable (and I accept many in that group also fall into group 1 due to redundancy / job availability etc) you're hit possibly by WTC changes, DLA amendments (they've taken away the money for complex wheelchairs ffs. Only basic ones get covered usually by central services- everything else comes out of mobility DLA). EMA changes, changes to DLA rules (there is someone on here lost her epilepsy DLA due to the number of fits being required being doubled), etc. If you are trying to self start business link is vanishing. If you want better for your kids, bye bye EMA (a disabled family on here thinks they cannot afford to allow their incredibly bright son to go to colege now as EMA was his bus fayre).

It seems to me that the safest group to be ATM is completely feckless, jobshy and totally dependent. Which has to be the opposite to the ideology of any party, surely?

Indeed I am fearful for the vulnerable who I can see will get creamed by the cuts...

But I am also very, very fearful for the future given the deficit and debt levels...

I wish the Labour party would step up to the plate and start making some serious suggestions about sensible cuts/savings.

Litchick, you are very right - unfortunately it was the Labour Gvt who got us into this crazy situation, when they must have been able to see that the eventual reckoning would always affect the poor disproportionately - utterly cynical and unforgiveable.
They will hide in a corner (oh, yes, there's Gordon - hiding away) until the mess has been sorted and then come out with more promises of giveaways...

Not entirely MrsG; oh yes labour amde some bad decisions (and in fairness those leaders are now gone), but even in non labour places there is severe financial hardship. it's not Labour / Tory / Either / Or: it's a perfect economic storm.

In america after all, there are posts I ahve seen elsewhere from people suggesting medic aid should be cut so that only the more ehalthy disabled can survive, and the loss of the others not be mourned.

There's a Hindu beleif that the world passes through stages and that we are now in the dark era where everything falls apart globally and we are ruled by selfishness and greed: can understand where they get that from.