To think that this woman is a greedy bitch?

[TheHairyDieter]

Greedy Bitch here

I believe that state handouts should be for people who genuinely need them. There is just not enough money to go around without giving them to people who are well-off. If Child Benefit was means tested, people on low incomes could be given more. That might be enough to get them off the dole and into work.

Honestly, this article had me seething. I hate greed

Orwellian you put it so well. We are not the squeezed middle, we are the 'let's get them to pay for everything because they are too busy working to make a fuss'.

See the problem as I see it is that CB replaced the tax break that taxpaying parents got when they had children.

So those that worked got a 'tax discount' because they had children.

But then the Govt changed the rules so ultimately they lost their tax discount and everyone (children or not) paid into the pot for those with children to get CB whether they worked or not

Another annoying aspect is that the difference in take home pay between earning £49500 and earning £50000 isn't even the same as the amount you are then losing in child benefit. So you can get a pay rise, but still have less money? £50000 seems like such an arbitrary cut off point. It really isn't that much money for a single earner family.

One of my friends who is losing CB said that it was effectively a 5K pay cut

Getwith, removing cash paid seems a lot more practical than charging for use of state services. Administering that would be a nightmare. Plus the implications of no longer having state provided services for all would be bigger imo than starting to means test a universal benefit.

How about govt subsidised shoe vouchers for children, given out universally? I wonder whether that would satisfy the poor 100k earner wondering who will pay for her children's shoes now the government won't

Orwellian and mumsneedwine I'm afraid I am totally with you on this one

Only the middle income have lost out?
Nah.

Imagine your income being low enough to qualify for income support and THEN remove £100 a week through 3 separate cuts.

That stings a bit.

TBH I thought poorer people being worse off now, in real terms, was a given. DLA and JSA and that travel/study allowance for 16+ has all been cut somehow hasn't it?

If they need to slash benefits of course those who need them least should lose them first. Take from her, her family won't even notice and will continue their comfortable lifestyle, take from a struggling person/family, they lose even the choice between food or fuel and will have nothing. Those on the breadline can't afford to lose anything, many people are surviving on the bare minimum.

yadnbu..

Hang on so if I don't have to choose between food and fuel I can afford to my benefit? [not my but general]

What about if the CB is the difference between a SAHM having money for a playgroup, coffee with a friend, a cake every other Tuesday or being completely isolated?

Originally child benefit was given to all funded by a tax rise across the board. the idea was to get money into the hands of the mother with the thinking that this would help children as the men were more likely to drink their wages that the women. So YABU, the woman isn't being greedy, she just wants the pact that was made honoured.

YABU. I was told this week by the council that I would have to pay for a service that used to free before (but if I had been on benefits I would have had to pay nothing).

We are about to lose CB. I can understand why however, when I first went back to work after DS2 I was paying full time nursery for 2 children. After tax, NI & child care I was working full time for about £80 a month before ANY other bills (DH paid those!). Without CB, it would not have been worth me going back to work by the time I'd used that £80 for petrol etc to go to work. Whilst working, I was paying tax, NI & the nursery were paying business tax, their employees were paying tax etc so the CB paid to me meant that I was able to contribute more to the social pot.

My concern with the way CB is about to be cut is that it is likely to be expensive to administer and is inherently unfair if you have a family with one earner just over or two earners just under. I would have preferred for CB to have been abolished and the equivalent amount put into a welfare scheme that is means tested on the household income.

If they were to cut it for dual income families it should start a lot lower than 50K as dual income families on 50K pay less tax too than a family on 50K with one earner-sooooo bloody unfair it's ridiculous!!!!!

Paying child benefit to middle income families is about recognising the contribution to society and supporting those parents, as although they don't 'need' the benefit as such it may be the difference between a child having extra music lessons or not, or being able to partake in a particular sport outside school

I know we've moved on since this point, but I don't think financially we're in any position to be handing money out for 'recognising contributions'. Not when people are suffering.

Since when has removing child benefit been about relieving suffering? Nobody is going to get more as a result!

And the benefit removal will not be a short term measure. When the economy recovers and the government is in a better financial position and the deficit is reduced it won't be returned will it?

Completely agree with Isabelle

When did I say it would relieve suffering?

Services are being slashed all over the show to reduce costs. People are losing benefits. If the most vulnerable in our society are being effected why shouldn't this be stopped? Because, if its as you say about 'recognizing contributions' it isn't imperative is it, not like some of the other things that are being taken away.

It should be stopped because it's ridiculously unfair,will save very little and people rely on it to live-not for music lessons!

If people on 50k plus are relying on child benefit to live then they need to rethink their outgoings.

Not that easy if you have a mortgage or rent over 1K,extortionate travel expenses etc.

I could say that re people relying on TC to live.

People on 2 X 25K will have far more money to live on thanks to paying far less in tax-why do they still get to rely on CB to live ditto somebody on 90K?

If our household income was £50k and that meant after tax £2k per month plus £240 as we have four children.

Our mortgage could be: £800
Food: £600
Petrol and car running: £300
Gas and Electric: £200
Phones and TV: £120
Council tax: £120

Oops Now as a family we're fucked. No clubs or activities for the children.

How on earth do people live???????? Losing £240 is a drop of over 10% of course for some losing CB will make a difference.