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

[OldGreyWiffleTest]

Well, am I?

Which would be the absolute worst thing to do in the current jobs climate. It's worrying isn't it.

@Downnotout well, you have your own business. That's not the same as being a wage slave. You will be paying corporation tax and tax on dividends - much lower than PAYE rates. If you don't feel you want CB then please do give it back to the treasury. Don't presume to decide for me that I don't need it. Perhaps if I only had one child, I'd not be so worried. Perhaps if I was in a two income family, I'd not be fussed. Perhaps if we were bearing completely the care costs for my MiL who has alzheimers I wouldn't be worried about every single penny. No private school fees for us.

Gramercy, that is desperately sad to think that.
There has to be a way for that not to happen. I do worry about my two and their futures.

How will they base it on salary plus bonuses etc? Bonuses are usually given in lieu of the previous year's performance aren't they? Will they take this year's salary (inc bonuses etc) and then work it on that for 2013?

In answer to the OP, it really depends where you live and what your expenses are. Some places are far more expensive than others, especially for property and childcare. It's disposable income which really counts, not salary.

In any case, the way it is being implemented is completely unfair. It still remains that those who earn £100,000 joint will still be able to claim the full amount where a single earner on £60,000 will lose it completely. Until they address that issue, I suspect people will still feel bitter about it whether they need it or not.

@gramercy that is exactly what is happening to us. Exactly.

YANBU, I'm fed up with the people going on about this being unfair. I don't even know anyone who earns 60K let alone a couple both earning just over 50K who will still get it. Will be a small %.

It's funny how suddenly there is all this concern for a poor single mum earning over 50k.

What if you have 4 children and one of those is disabled and you are their main carer so you cannot work. Your DH works bloody hard long hours to bring home 60k.

Oh and you live in SE England where houses are £££s.

£252 a month goes a long way.

Oh and your neighbours next door both earn 80k between them have 2 DC and still get it!

I've said it before and will say it again. What are Samantha and David Cameron worth? Quite a lot. Most of it from inheritances and the rest from having a "superior" education and opportunities that most of us could never ever dream of having.

They claimed benefits which they were sadly entitled to for their late son. They didn't have to. They could have given the same amount away to charity without flinching. If any amount of money is to be described as a drop in the ocean given that their child had round-the-clock specialist nurses to enable them both to pursue very lucrative careers then that is.

And now? Well - we all have to simply pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Including parents of disabled children who are on the breadline. It is sickening.

The thing is, no, many people do not need the child benefit. But what is objectionable is the fact that the changes are unfair . I saw a good article on fairness. Apparently the early Quakers introduced set pricing back in the 17th century. Until then a baker/blacksmith/potter could charge what they liked to who they liked. People loved the new set prices. They thought they were fair .

Likewise, if I lose my CB, I don't want to think that Mr and Mrs Bloggs next door on almost twice as much money are keeping theirs. I don't want to think that an EU worker with a supposed 7 children back in his home country is receiving it either.

And meanwhile, of course, the flippin' Winter Fuel Allowance marches on... now payable to all those Baby Boomers.

YANBU.

However I don't think it's fair that a couple will lose it if one earns 40K and the other 12K ie 52k for the household. While another couple will keep it even though both earn 39500 pa ie 79K for the household. I think it would be fairer if they used household income to determine the cut off.

It is annoying when people say "Move out of the SE, then" when we say we're hard pushed.
OK, then, DP will just magic up another job, we'll pull £10k-plus out of our arses and leave the city that's been our home for 14 years to start up somewhere new, at the age of 41.

Yeah.....

min Why don't you just give you the 5 holidays a year and ski lessons?

oh Dear Lord
£960 is a lot of money
but there are people earning that money who still need the child benefit
you can easily have outgoings of £2500 mortgage, £1200-1500 childcare, doesn't leave much

it all depends on outgoings

And we don't whinge, btw...this is to childless people up north who...now I think of it....DO go skiing a few times a year and we have to tell them we can't join them.
Not on golden skis, though.

We will be losing our child benefit, we were prepared to and in fairness as we save it for the children we dont need it, we had planned on the children having it for university.

However i think it is very unfair that a working couple earning up to £50k each will receive it, yet one income of £60k wont.

we are the same too gramercy

Oh yeah.....Valium...I forgot about those....thought my bum was hurting today......now I know what it is.....

YANBU

I'm not presuming for anyone. The way we spend our money is our choice, we have no one to answer to but ourselves. You make it sound easier to run our own business, like we are getting away with something,.
I too have a mum with Alzheimer's and there is no help for her what so ever despite them having paid their taxes their whole lives.

I know I'm lucky though. And that's why I say we don't need CB. But I also said I know there are people who do and I feel for those who are losing out. I am just making the point that there are plenty of people who have received CB til now who have NO need. I am not presuming you fall into that category. Just stating that there are plenty who do.

I am a bit confused mind, have they changed the threshold again?

£50k isn't a huge amount. As has been said, when you compare the net income with that of someone on a low wage that is topped up with tax credits, the real gap isn't that big.

Many in the £50k range will have more non-luxury outgoings For example, they'll have to spend more on clothing such as shoes, suits, dry cleaning.

Are there any minimum wage jobs that require you to turn up in a suit? Lower wage jobs that I did, I could turn up in casual clothes, or was given a washable uniform.

I think people tend to take their own situation, imagine what it would be like to have an extra £5k-£10k coming in each year, think how well off they'd be and what they could do with the 'extra' money. But that isn't the reality. Moving up a couple of income levels has other implications.

As a SAHM I am very very glad to keep our CB.

In response to the OP....£960 pw is not that much if the cost of your mortgage + childcare is £780 pw. That's what our outgoings would be IF I used childcare. Not including ANY other bills btw. Luckily for us I haven't bothered with childcare but I can see that it is very difficult for families just over the HR threshold if you are paying for childcare for 2 kids and you live in the SE.

I'm sure I read that for HR taxpayers with 2 kids that removal of CB is the equivalent of a £3k salary cut. Not a lot of people would be ok with that.

Short answer no thats what my H gets in a month!!! Dont really think they need any benefits as living of £960 is way more than enough to live on

But that being said some people have higher mortgages to pay so i suppose it depends on ur outgoings

Yes there are NMW jobs that require you to turn up in a suit. There are certainly plenty of jobs paying under 50K that require a suit to be worn.