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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Bloody W**NKing Tax credits! Or Government should I say

513 replies

Hai1988 · 06/07/2011 16:59

Just had my new tax credits award and have just found out that my DH's Working tax credits are being stopped as he has already had his lot for this year, £800!!!

My DH does not have a very well payed job at all and after rent and bills we have f**K all left and the weekly income of £140 really helped that is now just over £50.

So angry We need that extra £80 a week, I know it may not sound much to some but it did make a big difference to out life's.

Who ever voted Tory I hope your happy with yourselves that now so many family's are probably gonna struggle now.

Sorry not really an aibu but really needed to vent and wondered if anyone else is suffering with tax credits this year because of the dam government.

OP posts:
Cocoflower · 07/07/2011 17:26

Oh come on Joy!

Not only did you say as quoted above, but also

"Nobody else needs their wage to be increased"!

I have a feeling you didnt mean it too sound like that in retrospect though now?

microfight · 07/07/2011 17:27

"There is an implication here that the poor should just get better jobs if they are unhappy with their lot, which is easier said than done."

It is easier said than done but increasing the minimum wage massively is not going to help!

Cocoflower · 07/07/2011 17:28

Well I certainly messed up on point 1 and 2 :(

I dont think anyone should be penalsied for a past mistake especially when young- its what they do in the future that matters.

Cocoflower · 07/07/2011 17:30

microfightThu 07-Jul-11 17:22:36

Coco is right it is the cost of living that needs to come down.

Thank you microflight. It does seem the choice of being a SAHP is nearly extinct for a start and this is not right.

Rocky12 · 07/07/2011 17:30

The thing is - if I make a choice to have a baby at 17 having chosen to take no birth control - then there is NO way I will be having the sort of lifestyle that some seem to think is their right. There was a thread a while ago saying they thought it was unfair that some people could afford private school and some couldnt. I agree - it is unfair but that's life. It is unfair that I do the lottery every week and win nothing! Someone does it once and wins millions.

I would like to have a cleaner but have decided the money is better spent on a nice holiday with the family so the money we use to pay to our cleaner (over 5 yrs ago and you never knew whether she was going to turn up or not!) now goes monthly into a holiday fund.

JoySzasz · 07/07/2011 17:32

No, that point I still stand by.

I don't rule out increases for other jobs,but MW jobs are undervalued ,they are my personal concern today!

Anyway most jobs do get a pay raise ,it is those poor MW workers who are always overlooked.

I am sure you will come up with a list of jobs that are above min wage ...that people have had to study for etc...that then make MW workers look like fat cats ...but there you go!

usualsuspect · 07/07/2011 17:32

I wonder if your cleaner claimed tax credits.....

Cocoflower · 07/07/2011 17:35

Sorry Joy but if you think a cleaner should suddenly overnight get paid the same as a primary teacher how would you explain and justify this to her/him?

You either put both wages up or none at all.

Rocky12 · 07/07/2011 17:37

But I really believe you cannot have everything you want in life and sometimes it is good to think - what can I afford and what isnt possible. Without revealing the school - my son goes to a very well known boys boarding school. There are parents there to whom the fees are just a rounding error in their expenses. I do wonder what they are teaching their sons about money? The school recommends £25 per term as spending money and you have to request funds from this as this term progresses. Bit of a faff but it teaches the boys to plan their spending. However one boy last term brought in £3000 - interestingly the boy isnt particularly popular because of it. Now if he was a fab cricketer and brought in points for his house....

JoySzasz · 07/07/2011 17:37

Ok, then coco

I do see your point.:)

But is a Primary teacher more important than a cleaner?

we are back to square 1 .

Rocky12 · 07/07/2011 17:39

Five years ago cleaners interviewed you and decided whether they wanted to clean your house hence the trouble we had.

Rocky12 · 07/07/2011 17:40

primary school teacher is more important than a cleaner. I could be a cleaner but couldnt be a primary school teacher (although my Mum was!)

JoySzasz · 07/07/2011 17:46

Rocky ...why couldn't you be a primary teacher?

I am sad that you don't think a cleaner is just as valuable:(

My Grandmother was Primary school teacher,my father owns his own lucrative business.

My DH is a glorified CLEANER after once making a fortune in a totally different job.

Cocoflower · 07/07/2011 17:47

Yes I would value the people largely responsible for my child's education hugely.

I would think most people would agree they are more important!

fedupofnamechanging · 07/07/2011 17:51

The primary school teacher couldn't do her job if the school hadn't been cleaned. They are different but each is as necessary as the other.

usualsuspect · 07/07/2011 17:52

The whole of the Uk would grind to a holt,without MW workers

JoySzasz · 07/07/2011 17:52

Exactly Karma, at least here in the US they 'get' that. :)

Rocky12 · 07/07/2011 17:53

Think the teacher could clean the school but the cleaner couldnt teach the class.

JoySzasz · 07/07/2011 17:53

coco,that makes you sound very mean spirited.

janey68 · 07/07/2011 17:54

Controlling whether you get pregnant is certainly easier to control than in any other time in history.
Making good choices with men- well, sociopaths and psychopaths aside, women ARE empowered , they are not some meek and mild weaker sex who aren't capable of forming their own judgements. Sadly some women operate in a pattern of choosing feckless unreliable partners, and have a succession of children with them. As for working hard and getting good qualifications- well, not every one is blessed with academic ability, but surely the choice to work hard is open to everyone? You can have a disability or other difficulties and still be punctual, motivated and hard working. As for moving around the country to find work, well, its easier for some than others , but an awful lot of it is down to mindset. I would be a rich woman if I had a tenner for every time I've heard on MN someone complaining that they want a job on their doorstep because they don't want to move away from mum/auntie/best friend from school.

There seems to be an assumtion from some people that those who are positive 'glass half full ' 'can do' types , must have had all sorts of advantages from birth, while those who are negative 'can't do' types must have all had fewer opportunities.
Life isn't black and White like that.
You can take two children of similar ability and background and they can end up in very different circumstances, happy, fulfilled, successful, with good relationships- or the opposite. There is a hell of a lot of personal choice in life, and its ridiculous to try to deny that.

Cocoflower · 07/07/2011 17:54

I would still say the teacher is more important. For a start, no teachers then no schools and no school to clean.

I used to be a cleaner- it was grim. I was MNW (with £5 bonus for cleaning sick up!) which I accepted as fair.

fedupofnamechanging · 07/07/2011 17:57

Would the teacher clean the school though, or would she say that wasn't her job? I agree that the teacher has specific skills that the cleaner doesn't have, but they both need to do their job in order for the school to function.

Cocoflower · 07/07/2011 18:00

They are both needed, but I would argue the educations system would be fair more at risk if every teacher suddenly quit overnight (infact; chaos) as opposed to every school cleaner quitting.

It might sound "mean" but it's a fact of the simple supply & demand.

Rocky12 · 07/07/2011 18:01

janey - you sound like me! Yes, I was walking down the street and some man made me pregnant and so I couldnt move away from my Mum because she said she was going to help me. Actually she had her own life 50 is the old 40.... So, I was on my own, I wanted to go out for a few nights out in the week, its my right - your only young once dont you think.

I was offered free childcare to work/study for extra qualifications but tbh I couldnt be bothered. I was better off on benefits.

fedupofnamechanging · 07/07/2011 18:02

Well the cleaner is more easily replaced, that's true. But they would still have to be replaced. Just take a look at a primary school dining hall after lunch. If it wasn't cleaned (and the loos) a school would be deemed a health hazard very quickly!

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