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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be gutted that I won't be getting tax credits for 3rd child?

877 replies

GutenTag · 30/07/2016 07:24

I'm just wondering what people's opinion is really.

We are trying for a 3rd child and I won't be getting any tax credits for this child as the government has changed the rules so that from next year tax credits are only paid for up to a maximum of 2 children.

I currently receive around £1k of TC for the kids and I would have received £4k for the 3rd if the government hadn't made the changes.

That would have meant an extra £250 a month. It's a lot of money for us. My DH works and I'm a SAHM. We have a £100k mortgage on a small house in a deprived area of town. We get by. We don't have much money left each month and I need to save literally for everything. I'm really really gutted. I really wanted 3 kids and this has meant that I'll be financially alot worse off now.

Of course I don't expect the government to "pay" for my children but it would have really helped, that's all. It would have eased the pressure off.

Just for the record we have never received any other benefits apart from JSA when DH was made redundant last year which was a godsend as we would have been homeless otherwise.

Do you think AiBU to feel/ think like this?

OP posts:
Tfoot75 · 30/07/2016 07:35

It is absolutely right that you should not receive an extra £4K in benefits to support a third child that isn't yet born and you're choosing whether or not to conceive - I'm not sure that any tax payers would think it harsh tbh! I pay my taxes for useful things like nhs, education etc, so I would be much happier if you didn't receive this extra cash, as you don't need the 3rd child imo.

davos · 30/07/2016 07:36

If you feel the need the money. The solution is simple. Don't have a third.

We aren't having a third as it will stretch our finances. Many people stick at less kids than they ideally want because of money.

When I was of with Ds (now 5) they changed the sure start grant so you could only claim it for your first. On another online forum so many people were up in arms about it. Despite government announcing it well advance many people seem to have got pregnant (with their 2nd, 3rd, 4th) that couldn't afford it and we're planning to rely on this money.

You aren't pregnant. You don't have to get pregnant. You are aware of the rules.

The country doesn't have an aging population and doesn't need to encourage people to have kids, so I can't see why they would keep paying out for loads of kids.

LouSavage · 30/07/2016 07:36

Get a job to pay for the "extra" child you want...? Quite simple really.

ipswichwitch · 30/07/2016 07:37

Each, not clench

elodie2000 · 30/07/2016 07:37

This has to be a wind up!
If you can't afford another DC on the money you and your DH earn, don't have another child.
I am glad the rules have changed. Puts most people off having a load of DC they can't afford to pay for.

NataliaOsipova · 30/07/2016 07:37

A friend of mine commented the other day that a third child is a "statement of affluence". I can see what she means!

Amelie10 · 30/07/2016 07:38

There is not 'but' to it. Get out and get a job if you want to afford a third child. Being a sahm is a luxury, and you are not entitled to sit at home having children you think he government should fund.

DubiousCredentials · 30/07/2016 07:38

I thought the third child was only excluded for new claimants? So if you are claiming for two already you'll be ok unless I have misremembered.

Globetrotter100 · 30/07/2016 07:38

I'd also be prepared for the fact that in this economy and with this government, existing benefits are likely to be cut further (Theresa May has stated she favours cost cutting over increased taxation).

JeanGenie23 · 30/07/2016 07:38

This thread isn't going to go well for you OP.

You can't afford another child, so you don't have one

allegretto · 30/07/2016 07:40

You are not BU to feel gutted but that's life! Any government decision is liable to change so it's not something to rely on. I live abroad and the government brought in a baby bonus - a one off payment for each child born. It was brought in a few months after my first child was born and cancelled a few months before my second!

imjessie · 30/07/2016 07:41

I didn't realise the rule had changed . That's great , why should the tax payer take on the burden of people's life choices ?!!! Get a bloody job !!!!

SpecialAgentFreyPie · 30/07/2016 07:42

Do you have ANY IDEA the sort of cutbacks that have been made to Disability?

It's severely impacted my DS1's quality of life and he, y'know actually exists Angry

You're the type the Dail Fail carry on about.

Cosmo111 · 30/07/2016 07:42

You get 1k for two DC? I get 500 for three DC. It seems a lot of taxcredits for just two. The numbers don't seem right. We would all love to afford the luxury of being a SAHP but you can't grumble about expecting the government to compensate more when you could go out to work to make up the shortfall.

WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 30/07/2016 07:42

I couldn't afford a second child so didn't have one. I work as well. We don't get any tax credits.

Sorry I think you're being very unreasonable.

UnexpectedBaggage · 30/07/2016 07:42

YANBU for being disappointed.

However, no one should have DCs they can't afford, imo. Maybe get a job?

Lucy90 · 30/07/2016 07:43

We would love a third child, we just can't afford it at the moment.
I'm about to start nurse training we are hoping once I'm a qualified nurse we will be able to afford a third but that's 3 years away.
We are also planning to move 200 miles away once I've qualified to have any chance of affording a mortgage

davos · 30/07/2016 07:43

So if you are claiming for two already you'll be ok unless I have misremembered.

if you are already claiming for 3 at the cut off point, you will still keep receiving it. But as far as I am aware of your third is born after the cut off you won't get it.

lightcola · 30/07/2016 07:47

I'd love to be a SAHM, and I'd love for someone else to pay me for the privilege, but that's not life. So I work. Try it, you might like it.

mysteryfairy · 30/07/2016 07:47

So unreasonable I wonder if the government made you up to justify their programme of cuts.

splendide · 30/07/2016 07:48

I feel like this is bullshit designed to get a nice benefit bashing thread going. But if it isn't then of course you feel disappointed that you've missed out on something that used to be standard. I feel the same about child benefit and final salary pensions and private school and big houses on one professional salary.

Buuuut what can you do other than cut your cloth according to your circumstances?

peggyundercrackers · 30/07/2016 07:49

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Alfieisnoisy · 30/07/2016 07:51

Your comments on posts like these are offensive peggy. There are politer ways of speaking but evidently you have t learned them. Reporting your post.

IJustAteTheKidsFoodAgain · 30/07/2016 07:51

I would love a third, more than anything, but the odds are against us that it would have a severe disability, YABVU.

FruitCider · 30/07/2016 07:52

I wanted 2 children, can't have a second one due to health reasons. I'm glad now as my 3.5yo dd has an amazing quality of life. More children isn't always better, especially if it's going to financially cripple you.

Further benefit cuts are probably going to occur once we leave the EU and the ECHR are not holding the government to account over low benefit payments.

If you can't afford a 3rd child, don't have one. My sister in law has 3 and they can't even afford a £9.50 sun holiday. What kind of life is that? If you are comfortable now, accept your family size and move on.

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