AIBU to think that people earning £960 per week don't really need Child Benefit?

[OldGreyWiffleTest]

Well, am I?

Well, to play devils advocate, is it unreasonable to consider that anyone on benefits who can afford to smoke really doesn't need every penny of that benefit funding that they receive ?

And no I'm not bashing benefit recipients, be they high or low income families

You may start to hear the comment well if you have children you should be financially responsible more often in future morethanpotatoprints.

Currently it's universal and not means tested. Attitudes will change

I say again. It's the thin end of the wedge

Our mortgage has just gone up another £30 a month ( thanks Halifax).

It's not about being 'financially responsible' - Bad things happen and parents need to claim benefits. No problem with that.

I have a problem with the assumption that just because one has children, then there is an automatic entitlement to child benefit, special treatment by the rest of society, yada yada. Make child benefit means tested to ensure the truly needy get it, rather than today's opt-out system.

Someone earning £960 a week as the OP says will be paying at least £14.5k in income tax a year by the way.

I agree with you nursenic. If it can't be universal then I'd be much happier if it was means tested

Means tested and more money paid out to those who need it.

When i chose not to claim it I did deliberate for several weeks about whether i should take it and donate it to a charity or use it to sponsor another child (which I went on to do anyway). I decided that the best part of £140 monthly would be best left in the treasury.

42.5 k is not that much money for a family to live off

Again, it's only same amount income as those with minimum wage topped up with benefits

It used to be that as a society we all cared about children, as they are the next generation of our country. Child benefit is for children not adults as and was designed to ensure children had adequate nutrition etc

Why can't people see that these people are a tiny minority? Why are so many people so keen to buy into the kick them while they are down, benefit scum propaganda? Can't people see that it is divide and conquer? Why is being chucked on the scrap heap not considered punishment enough?

All people on low pay get their income made up to 42.5k by tax credits? OMFG do you actually believe that?

It is up to parents to ensure their kids are adequately cared for. Benefits are there for when this is not possible.

If all it took was child benefit to produce well cared for kids, then there'd be no psychological/physical/emotional child abuse, would there?

Caring about children should not be distorted into paying parents for the choice they made.

I'd hazard a guess that many child benefit pounds do not directly/indirectly go towards caring for children. Giving mummy and daddy extra cash for treats is not 'caring' for children'. That is not the State's job.

Caring for children involves a proper state safety net when parents lose work or income. It involves investment in good children's resources and indiscriminate pay outs harm these.

I'd never kick somebody when they are down. I'm not a Tory. I'd like decent means tested state benefits for everybody on low incomes or for those who are struggling. But it needs to be opt-in and the re-direction of child benefit savings into state benefits and decent state child care provision.

Hecuba Agree! It's easier to blame us, the 'scroungers', than the banks which were given billions when they went bust and then gave some of that to bankers in bonuses. Now millionaires are up £40k, paid or by taxing pensioners. Fantastic.

Our CB doesn't necessarily get spent directly on DDs as CB is currently 40% of our income it helps us pay rent and the gas bill. Perhaps that is me being irresponsible but homelessness and no heat aren't exactly good for DC either.

Nursenic

Then I hope you only use private education and health

Income tax is means tested and fair - means test paying in, not taking out. Universal benefits are cheaper to administer, not stigmatised and reach all who need them

I'm forever amazed that people think that an income of 45K would mean you are wealthy, having expensive holidays etc.

I am a SAHM and DH is on around 45k, we have a car that is about 7 years old that we bought 3rd hand and I shop each week at Aldi. We are careful and put a little in savings each month and to be able to save we are careful.

All our clothes are from Asda/Tesco/Matalan, we haven't had a holiday since we had the DC, we don't have SkyTV or a wii or fancy mobiles, we eat out about once a monthas a treat usually about £40 in PizzaHut/Bella Italia, have a 2 up-2down terrace with no garden and a mortgage of 100k. We really are not wealthy. We aren't poor but we really, really aren't wealthy.

I think a lot of people forget that an income of £45k after tax is £32k to take home.

I have been guilty of this

I wouldn't consider 45K to be the income of someone rich but I would consider it to be a comfortable income. It is well above the national average wage. TBH if someone offered me a job paying half that I would be crying with joy. Considering even that is highly unlikely I do think it is a good wage.

I am jealous. I envy anyone not in daily fear of homelessness and who has food on their table guaranteed.

Lol at having 32k with wages and top ups on minimum wage wtf u would have to have about 6 kids!

Starwisher

My defence is that I work for the NHS and god help them if I added up all the free hours I have worked....! Illness certainly is not a choice in the manner that having children is and certainly health care should be available to all regardless of tax paying or not. Education is income generating regarding the future economic activities of those educated therefore it is an investment.

Secondly, health, social and educational care provide work and services for all, not just children whereas doling out CB to everybody bar its eventual re expenditure is a drain. it is indiscriminate and unfocussed and means less money available to people such as the poster Hecubasdaughter who clearly would benefit so to speak from an increase in benefit.

Benefits are not innately stigmatised. That is the fault of ghastly judgemental human beings. Tackle the stigma not the means testing nature of them.

waves team Nursenic flag

Thanks Kayano.

I am pro welfare state but anti the entitlement that some parents seem to feel regarding their choice to breed.

Support raised benefits for those that need them. And invest in more social housing so that posters like Hecuba need not worry about losing their homes. That is bloody awful.

Bella if you only have a mortgage of 100k how can you have no money on that income?