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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Have you been worse off since the tories came into power?

382 replies

samram · 31/05/2011 17:30

Just wondered if anybody else is worse off since they came into power?
i work 16 hours a week as single parent
Child care is £88 a week term time and £120 half term.
In april i had my tax credits cut by £65 a week!
I am really really struggling at the moment.
Just wondered if anyone else is the same ?
I dont just mean single parents and mean families too !

OP posts:
scarletfingernail · 31/05/2011 19:42

Worse off now that tax credits have gone and rising cost of living.

If I'm completely honest the tax credits were an added bonus and while we will have to make changes to how we live, I agree that we didn't need them and am not complaining about losing them while the country's finances are in such a mess.

I'm more concerned about the rising cost of fuel and food and the fact that DH's salary has been frozen for the last 3 years.

Xenia · 31/05/2011 19:43

Well nothing is as good for me as low interest (because of my debt paying off my husband on my divorce) so that's likely to be biggest influence (and they will go up of course). I never got tax credits etc or childcare help as earn too much so nothing to lose there.

Labour proposed 20% cuts and the Tories supposedly have 25% but neither is really cutting properly. They tinker at the edges. I think yesterday's papers were talking about how the Government hasn't actually stopped spending very much yet.

Glitterknickaz · 31/05/2011 19:44

But yeah.... lost £10 a week so far, going to lose £200 a month in 2013 along with any other benefits cuts.

ScousyFogarty · 31/05/2011 19:46

THE MAIN CUTS ARE YET TO COME. vat RISE EFFECTS MOST PEOPLE. fOOD IS AN OBVIOUS RISER. i THINK THE ALREADY POOR OR DISABLED WILL BE THE Hardesat hit. "all in it together" Daftest slogan ever, We are not that kindof country. Grow up Cameron. Big Society means .bugger all Gabby Logan is doing well.

MovingAndScared · 31/05/2011 19:48

yup much worse off - lost my job

cherryburton · 31/05/2011 19:51

We were on our arses - DH moved for a permanent job which paid a third less than the temp one he had. We moved somewhere cheaper so rent, bills, insurance, everything is cheaper than where we were but the cut in salary meant we were overspending by about £200 pm, and that was without us doing anything fun like going out or having a holiday.

On the upside, I managed to land a job out of the blue which has sorted us out (even if it does go 50% on childcare!) for the time being, but it's only temporary so we may be back on our arses in 6 months time...

Meglet · 31/05/2011 19:51

Worse off.

The cut in childcare tax credits means I'm down £100 a month.

At least childcare will go down when ds starts school and dd's fee's go down next Jan, but if they start charging for the CSA we'll be down again. I feel so vulnerable as a single parent. I am lucky to be employed but always scared I might be made redundant.

I've noticed food prices shooting up and it cost £60 to fill my car the other day.

HappyMummyOfOne · 31/05/2011 19:54

Who ever got into power would have had to make cuts. Not only did labour spend what they didnt have and not save anything for a rainy day, they also threw tax credits at people who then cut there hours, chose not to work or had children that they could not afford without benefits.

The cost of everything is rising but it would have done regardless of who is in charge.

Portofino · 31/05/2011 19:58

I am not even IN the UK, but we too are worse off. Food, petrol, Utilities have all gone up - I especially notice food, as I thought it was a bargain when we first moved to Belgium. It can't all be the Tories!

ScousyFogarty · 31/05/2011 19:59

Am I right in thinking I might be able to tell how you voted by your answer to this question

usualsuspect · 31/05/2011 20:00

Well I suppose it will be my fault when I'm a benefit scrounger .when I've lost my job due to the cuts

Glitterknickaz · 31/05/2011 20:00

I think you'll be surprised how I voted.
I didn't vote for the party I wanted to vote for because there is no point in my constituency.

x2boys · 31/05/2011 20:01

bit better off actually get very little in way of taxcreditsbut with the amount you earn going up nearly 1000 before they taxyou both me and dh are better off

hudspur · 31/05/2011 20:04

I'm worse off due to VAT rise but I knew taxes would be increased so I'm not surprised or that unhappy. The Government could not have maintained the fiscal position that the Labour Party was pursuing as it was unsustainable and wouldn't have been able to command the confidence of the bond market.

happybubblebrain · 31/05/2011 20:07

I haven't had a pay rise for 7 years so I've been worse off for quite some time now. I still blame the Tories though, actually I blame the Tories for everything, including the supposed mess that Labour supposedly got us into - is anyone else completely bored of that old chestnut now?

I have zero job security but I do have a plan B. I don't have a great income but I am very good at managing money and keeping my expenses as low as possible. So, I'm not particuarly worried.

OldMacEIEIO · 31/05/2011 20:09

Its a bit of a false question imo.
The real question is are you worse off under the current government because of their policies.

Considering the time it takes to steer the ship in mid ocean, it's pretty clear that the crud we are going through at the moment is due to Gordon Brown and his tiny pea brain.

Start blaming the tories in a year or two

breathing · 31/05/2011 20:10

No difference for us

ccpccp · 31/05/2011 20:14

"Am I right in thinking I might be able to tell how you voted by your answer to this question"

I think you're right ScousyFogarty, though its not about party politics apparently Wink

Very refreshing to see all the 'I dont like the tories but it happened under labour' posts.

Glitterknickaz · 31/05/2011 20:15

Some things did, ESA for one, the whole ATOS fiasco is a Labour creation. I'm not so into party politics that I can't see that.

desperatelyseekingsnoozes · 31/05/2011 20:16

Am I right that the 50% tax rate is on its way out, meaning we will be better off? Shows the tories up for who they are.

overthemill · 31/05/2011 20:16

yes, massively. all the public sector cuts mean i have no job and my dh has had to accept a pay cut from his employer and petrol/food etc rises mean we are really really struggling.

hudspur · 31/05/2011 20:21

There's been no change to the 50% tax rate

desperatelyseekingsnoozes · 31/05/2011 20:23

I know it still exists, I thought that I read somewhere that it was going to go.

mollymole · 31/05/2011 20:23

whichever party was in power we would be having to pay - there was no such thing as the'interest free credit' that we were all being sucked into - the bubble had to burst some time
the worst thing is the price of fuel which hikes everything up

hudspur · 31/05/2011 20:24

Its going to stay for the foreseeable future but I think the Government is looking at whether it is effective.

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