To think 'in your face Osborne?'

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

I'm not. I know I'm not. I'm personally going to have a glass of wine and celebrate there being a significant amount of egg on the Tories' faces.

£34k salary outside London puts you in the top third of earners.

The childcare costs are the killer - I effectively earn nothing after 3pm due to the costs of after school club but can't collect my dcs until 5.
Holidays are astronomically expensive

Plus being a lp leaves you utterly exhausted if you work full time, with no time or energy for anything other than childcare or work. It's a relentless slog. I am extremely fortunate not to need to work ft now, but did for the first year that I worked. Tax credits restored my quality of life - genuinely.

but I do think that lone parents are vulnerable, and subject to quite significant additional stresses and expense

As are the disabled who are being hit by cuts

I'm another teacher entitled to tax credits. Would struggle without.

ravenAK In 1965 4 million poor households did not have central heating or hot water. They were referred to back then and prior to then as the great unwashed.

ironically some landlords seem to want to take their tenants back there by taking months to fix hot water and heating when it goes wrong

It might well do, TalkinPease, but the child care costs are the issue. I'm in a similar position to Burnshermufs, and would honestly not be able to work, keep a roof over our heads and food on the table without tax credits. I could choose to not work, and would be only slightly worse off than I am now (and would obviously have a lot more time to spend with my children). But I've chosen the better long term option, which means that I won't need any kind of benefits once my children are at school, but in the meantime I need the help with child care costs.

Um, I'm not in favour of any child credits being cut- least of all those going to the disabled. My comparison, if there was one, was to the situation of 2 parent families on a similar income....who don't generally have such high childcare costs.

Thank f**k for that. DH & I both work, before people start sneering. DH does nearly 60 hrs per week, I do just under 30 as I have to juggle (non-existant childcare) for my autistic DD. I have 3 part time jobs.

Our family income is approx £28k. I get so furious when people say we don't work hard, because we don't earn huge salaries. We work harder than most people earning more who can pay to have someone else cook, clean & do childcare. You don't get that luxury on our wage.

I never ever thought I would be grateful for the HoL. Wow. Thank you :)

I heard an interesting programme on R4 this morning that highlighted the gap between London & SE England, & the rest of the UK as one of the most divisive issues the UK is facing. I think they are right. Someone who lives in SW London has no idea about life in Yorkshire, Lancashire, NE England. Food for thought.

Bubblesinthesummer they will pay the price for this

I nearly cried when i heard the news. Thank god there are good people out there.

These cuts were only really going to affect the working and not the unemployed.

I live in SW London. I still have family in the North. I haven't forgotten my roots. I haven't forgotten what it's like to be poor living under a Tory government.

I may be surrounded by those people Kipper but we're not all like that.

Reboot the unemployed have had it too with stricter sanctions and workfare.

Thank you, Lords.

But what does that matter TalkingPease? That is the entire point of tax credits (massive sigh now as you know this perfectly well i am sure) - it is because a lone parent with 3 kids and a massive childcare bill needs more than that income to raise a family, while a single person with no kids will indeed be feeling well off.

I used to work for HMRC in Tax Credits and can confirm that the vast majority of the claimants I spoke to were employed, we even had lots of teachers and nurses.

One person who always sticks in my mind is a lady who rang to update her income, she'd gone from a trainee to fully qualified and her new income put her over the threshold, reducing her claim to zero. She was so unbelievably happy and actually whooped down the phone because, in her words, she'd made it. She was grateful for the support when she needed it but was so happy that she no longer did. I have never met anyone on benefits because they want to be.

Fuck George Osborne and fuck the Tories. I hope this costs them the next election.

HelenaDove - i was talking about the tax credit cuts but you are right. The unemployed are being treated like they are worse than scum. A lot of it is unfair.

I've been a member of 38 Degrees since their first campaign and so glad I am.

My slimeball tory MP was hopefully royally pissed off by my lovely emails. I hope his inbox broke under the weight of all the emails from other people complaining about this issue, too.

They targeted hardworking families before the election campaign and refused during the election to be precise about tax credit cuts, so I always wondered about the sheer stupidity of people who might be affected but voted for them anyway...

Herethere, not trying to cause upset, as you said yourself, you are surrounded by "those people".

I sometimes get quite astounded by the views I see on here & I enjoyed the chance to say how it is outside the London bubble.

I'm hoping that you can help to explain to people we don't all live in London! :)

When DH and I were starting our businesses the tax credit money we got was utterly invaluable.
We genuinely counted the days for when that money hit the bank.
But as the kids got older our incomes grew and our claim diminished.
THe last year we got the credits, the form arrived as I was booking an overseas holiday.
Which was when I knew they had lost their effectiveness as a targeted help to those really in need.

BUT
What ferkwit Gideon is doing is hitting those at the bottom the very hardest.

As are the disabled who are being hit by cuts

Yep, and no one will give a toss when we're hit to pay for this. No one will stand up in the Lords on our behalf, no one will worry about how much we're going to lose.

I'm boggling that people can earn £35k and get tax credits. We've never qualified. It's only in the last few years DH has earned that and now a bit more, I can't work due to disability and we've got 2 kids (they're too old now), we've not received a penny.

Yep, and no one will give a toss when we're hit to pay for this. No one will stand up in the Lords on our behalf, no one will worry about how much we're going to lose.

I seriously fear that you are right.

Also - why are the tories suddenly whingeing the HoL is 'unelected'? Why does that mean they're suddenly, mysteriously invalid? Would they be equally invalid if they'd rubberstamped this vicious, brutal piece of legislation? I bet not.

What is the point of the upper chamber if it is not to check ridiculous, dogma-led legislation? If we now have a situation where the Lords is more responsive to the ordinary person on the street than the Commons - surely it's the Commons needs more reform?

Just a thought.

Nice to see the tory arseholes suffer. This is just the beginning, hopefully, as they struggle increasingly with their tiny majority and as their MPs realise if they want to hold on to their seats they can stop this cruel shit right now.

You only get childcare costs reimbursed you know? So you have to spend it - it isnt added to your savings account

Divide and conquer is a very old and well practised political model. Dont fall for such old tricks TheFairyCaravan

Mind you, TheFairyCaravan, I am surprised you never claimed tax credits with 2 kids as it used to be a couple of hundred quid a year up to about 45k income i thought, even now its up to 30k income

I'm boggling that people can earn £35k and get tax credits.

It's not that hard to understand. Single parent in full time work + 2 small children = high childcare costs.