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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU about Tax Credits cuts,

792 replies

Weathergames · 15/09/2015 23:37

Commons back Osborne plan for tax credit cuts
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34260902

I don't claim anymore because I now earn enough to support myself - because I could work and progress my career as well as my life while being a single parent.

AIBU to think this is a total travesty and so many single parents are going to have their life's devastated by this - and what about people in domestic abuse situations who will now be more unable to leave?

Maybe I some benefits scrounger - but the tax credits enabled me to be a good parent and role model to my kids - without their feckless father affecting that .... AIBU?!

OP posts:
lamergamer · 16/09/2015 00:31

YANBU. Fucks me right off this does. I struggled to get a job and eventually found work which, after losing my income support, carers allowance, free school meals, etc means I'm only £40 a week better off. Come next April, I'll lose £32 a week with the tax credit cuts.

Woo hoo. I'm £8 a week better off in work.

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 16/09/2015 00:35

This has got to be an early April Fool. They've got to be taking the piss. £8 better off in work. !!!. Could it lead to a National strike.
Yes I know I said "No point moaning but that doesn't apply to us as we tried to get them out.

caroldecker · 16/09/2015 00:35

There are currently 3.3 million households getting WTC, out of 26.7 million households in the UK. That is about 12%, certainly not a majority.

Icanseeclearly · 16/09/2015 00:36

Personally I'm terrified by this. We barely make ends meet now and I earn over minimum wage and am subsidised to living wage. My earnings would increase but I'm subject to the 1% pay rise so my wonder plan of earning more and more so I needed less and less in the form of tax credit has fallen by the wayside.

This time next year I fully expect to lose my house. We simply don't have this much extra to cut out. As we are already renting a property well below market rent for the area we have no hope of getting somewhere else. Last round of council bids here there were 867 people bidding on 3 houses. I don't even want to think about it tbh. Sticking your head in the sand may seem like a cop out but, when you have no options left, what else can you do?

Babyroobs · 16/09/2015 00:48

I think a lot of peope are going to be in for a shock next April. I have spoken to a lot of people in the past few weeks friends/ work colleauges etc and only a tiny minority of them seem to be aware of the changes and how much tax credits are being cut by. Do people not read the newspapers/ listen to budget announcements? The ones that are in the know are desperately trying to up their hours at work to bridge the shortfall.

Hamiltoes · 16/09/2015 02:05

the Scottish wanting independence

The scottish wanted socialism. Not some watered down tory version of labour who voted for the bloody cuts.

I really am stunned at the lack of media attention this is getting. CTC will reduce too, its not just those on WTC as the CT taper rate will also lower and start cutting off where the new WT rate ends. If that makes sense? It really is so complex that the media didn't even pick up on it on budget day. However if my calcs are correct, I estimate that most families who get any form of TC will be worse off by at least £1000 a year/ £20 a week. This is huge.

What gets me seething though (as with everything else tory related) is the way they take pleasure in pulling the rug from under peoples feet. Why was there no mention in this years award notice? Why aren't CM rates being increased to balance these cuts? Why aren't they being reduced in line with the min wage rising (which would at least cushion some families). Why is it always so harsh so fast? They could easily have phased that cut over 5 years, £5 a week is a bit easier to find than £20. And all while wage increases + BTL tax increases = cost of living skyrocketing. Do they think the new living wage and loss of rent profits is going to come from the buisness owners pockets Hmm

They're so fucking clever and sly it makes me feel sick.

Hamiltoes · 16/09/2015 02:11

Oh yes, and absolutely no funding for services that could actually help those affected get advice, learn financial/ budgeting skills/ subsidised childcare until you find work or increase hours etc. A drop in the ocean it would be, but they can't even be arsed to put the drop in.

Notasinglefuckwasgiven · 16/09/2015 06:36

I worry for the most vulnerable children, having grown up with a single parent under Tory rule in the 80s. It was awful ( shakes off memories ) I remember being cold and food running out mid week. We do bits for the food bank and chatting to the folk who do the deliveries is grim. There are families on minimum wage living in one room in winter in Glasgow due to heating costs and some get cold food packages as they regularly don't have power. It upsets me when I see the list. I don't see cuts improving the situation any way at all Sad

FuckYouChrisAndThatHorse · 16/09/2015 06:53

If I had had to leave my abusive xh next year, then I'm not sure that financially I could have afforded it. I worked full time, with 3 dcs. With WTC and CTC I made ends meet. I would have lost about £1500, I think. Maybe more.

The idea that me and the dcs would have had another obstacle when escaping...

We lived modestly, in a small flat, I had a horrible commute because we couldn't afford to live any closer to my work, we didn't have holidays away, we just went to stay with family... But it was great because I could support us all and we were free and safe.

If one person is trapped in staying in an abusive relationship, because they cannot afford to work and support their dcs, then that is one person too many.

I am now not reliant on TCs. They were my lifeline. That's what they're supposed to be. A lifeline for those who work, to make sure that their children do not live in poverty.

There is no reason why they could not have been reduced inline with an increase in minimum wage.

Flowers for anyone who is hit by this :( it's wrong.

TwllBach · 16/09/2015 06:59

I am terrified by this. I'm looking at being a single mother with my first DC due in April. I'm a teacher and already know that I would be struggling after working out what I would be eligible for etc. the cuts coming in mean I'm going to be even worse off. It baffles me that working people can be struggling to house and feed and clothe themselves and the government don't give a flying fuck.

hattyhatter · 16/09/2015 07:00

I am now not reliant on TCs. They were my lifeline

Yes, me too.

If we want to economically hard-headed about this, my ability to escape DA and feed by DC too has lead to the happiness, health and success of my DC. That's a lot of money saved compared to the alternative.

FuckYouChrisAndThatHorse · 16/09/2015 07:12

Hatty, exactly.

DontOpenDeadInside · 16/09/2015 07:24

What pisses me of is the uncertainty. People need to know how much they are going to lose before they lose it. When it was announced they should have sent everyone a letter saying if you circumstances stay the same next year, then you will be receiving x amount. That way people could plan in advance. As it is, I have no idea if or by how much my award is going to change. We have debt to pay (3 more years) which needs to be paid, and after bills/petrol we have about £85 a week for food (5of us) and any bits we need. Oh and bloody universal credits are coming in in November, which means no money for a month before the most expensive time of the year! You'd think they could wait until February.

Samcro · 16/09/2015 07:27

i really don't get the "shock" about this. scameron and co were open about benefit cuts. yet people let them back in.\

hattyhatter · 16/09/2015 07:32

To be fair samcro a lot of people believed that being pro "hard working families" meant all "hard working families" not just the well-paid.

Of course they could have read the manifesto

DontOpenDeadInside · 16/09/2015 07:33

I'm not shocked they are cutting them, I knew thats what the tories did. Like I say its the uncertainty.

godsavethequeeeen · 16/09/2015 07:34

Yanbu. I knew they'd do this Angry so I've been really cutting back since the start of the year. I'll lose a chunk of child maintenance when those changes filter down and also the working TC loss.

I earn over the minimum wage so their bleating about how it will be increased is irrelevant to me. The dc's are at school so any childcare changes won't make any difference either.

Mistigri · 16/09/2015 07:44

I would be very interested to know what proportion of the people who will be affected by TC changes voted Tory.

It seems as if the changes are complex (and poorly understood/badly reported by the press), that many people who will be affected don't realise it yet, and that next April may come as a shock.

lougle · 16/09/2015 08:04

To be fair, the changes aren't complex. They require a simple calculation.

All families claiming Tax Credits will be affected if their income is over £3850. All families with income over £6420 will lose at least £1233.60 ([old threshold £6420- new threshold £3850] x new taper 48%)

After that, they will lose effectively 7% of their tax credits, as the taper has risen from 41% (41p in each pound) to 48% (48p in each pound).

So the person earning £6420 will lose £1233.60 and the person earning £6421 will lose £1234.08, etc.

You'll always be better off (just) by working, but if you receive housing benefit and council tax benefit, it will literally be pennies better off by the time you take into account the reduction of those benefits as your wage increases.

Remember also, that as your tax credits are cut, for every £1 of tax credits you lose, your hb and council tax will go up by 65p and 20p respectively, up to your total entitlement, so the overall drop in income could be reduced to 15p in each £1, depending on your family make-up.

rollonthesummer · 16/09/2015 08:08

Could it lead to a National strike.

Unless the conservatives make striking illegal...

Mistigri · 16/09/2015 08:09

I realise that the maths are simple, if you know how it works.

My point is that the media by and large doesn't appear to know how it works, and it's a reasonable get that outside mumsnetland, neither do a fair few TC recipients.

Mistigri · 16/09/2015 08:12

So I suppose my question is, what % of TC recipients don't yet realise that they are going to be £100 a month worse off next year, and what % of those people voted in favour of this?

DontOpenDeadInside · 16/09/2015 08:27

Ok, so dp and I have our own(newish) business, earning about £4000 pa (will hopefully rise quickly) have 3 dc under 12. Will our award stay near enough the same?

rollonthesummer · 16/09/2015 08:30

I think it's horrific cutting the benefits of people that WORK! What are they supposed to do now to pay the bills?

They said they were going to massively cut the welfare bill though and people still voted them in :(

rolite · 16/09/2015 08:32

Lots of people do want this though, as the fate of the Liberal Democrats at the last election showed when their voteshare collapsed and the number of Lib-Con switchers ensured they were wiped out in their South-West heartlands to make way for a full Conservative Government.

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