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

[GutenTag]

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?

Sofabitch I would agree with you if both parents were working but as GuttenTag is a sahm I don't think it's the same thing.

These are working families.

In the case of OP, both parents are not working. Like previous posters I cannot see why she cannot work evenings/weekends to earn 4k per year to help fund her children.

Some posters say that back in the good old days one salary was enough to fund a family but this wasn't always the case. Amongst my working class relatives in the 60s/70s, the fathers worked full-time and the mothers worked evening and weekend shifts in pubs, cafes, shops etc to top up the family income.

BTW I would feel quite differently about tax credits for a single parent, tax credits where both parents were already working full-time/almost full-time, support for those with health issues etc etc.

If you want to help poor working families it is better to raise the threshold where tax payments start. That way people don't feel they are being penalised for working more hours and you don't get people turning down work for fear of losing tax credits. Tax credits must be fairly expensive to administer (processing applications etc) and mistakes on calculations have been disastrous for people suddenly asked to pay money back. I am a labour voter but I feel tax credits were a bad idea with good intentions.

I feel people shouldn't really rely on government hand outs as a way of topping up your wage. I only have one child. If we could afford it we would have had another. But we have chose not too. The £80 family credit (I think it's called) we have received has gone straight in a trust fund for my daughter for her uni fees when she is older. I could have done with that money so many times when on maternity leave but we never touched it. Personally don't think people should have kids if they can't afford it out of their own pocket

I'm not trolling at all I was responding to helena's comments that single people were as deserving as families of support, clearly that is not true if they aren't disabled. She came on and volunteered that she's a sex worker

I agree you shouldn't rely on tax credits. But are you saying people shouldn't claim them? My OH works at least 70 hours a week. I work part time but also own a house I rent out. When the children were younger we were getting £400 a week for 3 children. Last year my OH's income went up and we got nothing. This last tax year I have put all the figures in to the tax credits and we are owed £2,900 in tax credits from the last tax year. Are you all saying I should tell them to keep their money. As my OH is self employed I cannot say what he will earn, so I claim after the tax year. All of you saying it's bad that tax payers money goes to stay at home Mum's or those on low incomes. I just wondering what you'd do if you're told you are entitled. But I don't think it shoukd be relied on.

I'm sorry but I find this post ridiculous. You are planning for a third child and whining that you won't be able to have tax credits for that child. Moaning that we 'the taxpayers' won't give you more money for a child YOU want to have. If you can't afford to have another child without more benefits don't have one! Ridiculous post

Good move by government in my oppinion - if you can't afford something then you can't have it.
Sis but YABU

Dh and I both work full time. In an ideal world I would be a sham. But she refuses for us to depend on the state if we can earn the money ourselves. So, I work. If I didn't we would be entitled to tax credits. They wouldn't be as much as my wage but would play the gap. Perhaps we should all try what op wants to do see how long it takes for the whole system to collapse.
I would have loved a fourth child (maybe even 5 or 6) but we couldn't afford it, so have stopped at three. In an ideal world where someone else was paying the bill, my life would be so different.

And sofabitch of course tax credits are benefits. People are getting government money from the DWP the same as those on other benefits are. Absolutely no difference. I don't think anyone should get tax credits anyway but to say 'i want another child but governernment won't pay me to do that' is disgusting.

Notmuch, it wouldn't change my decision to work, some people have more pride and a sense of responsibility than others. There's no way I'd opt to take that when it could have gone to much better use. That's the salary of two or three extra teaching assistants etc.

Pisssed i never said that. My posting history bears out the fact that i have never been anything but supportive to families facing these cuts. I am however fed up with the dismissive attitude that childless people /matter less/ will just have to manage/can sofa surf. All attitudes i have seen on here.

I worked in a sex chatline office from early 2001 to early 2003 which i made very clear in my posts.

You do know gaslighting doesnt work when the written word is present. You may not be trolling but you are doing that.

My OH works at least 70 hours a week. I work part time but also own a house I rent out. When the children were younger we were getting £400 a week for 3 children. Last year my OH's income went up and we got nothing.......,Are you all saying I should tell them to keep their money. As my OH is self employed I cannot say what he will earn, so I claim after the tax year. All of you saying it's bad that tax payers money goes to stay at home Mum's or those on low incomes. I just wondering what you'd do if you're told you are entitled.

I do think that it is completely insane that families with investment property will still get tax credits despite the other cuts not, I must say.

I do think that it is completely insane that families with investment property will still get tax credits

Quite. It's pretty much the definition of "scrounger".

You should be ashamed.

Not you, OP, but the majority of those commenting. Tax Credits are in no way 'subsidising' anything, and nor are they intended to. They are paid by govt purely to top up a discrepancy between the levels of income necessary to live (to a predetermined level), and wage rates as actually paid IRL.

'Mother' doesn't pay too well in the private sector, does it? And I wonder how many posters suggesting "working more" have a lot of experience in the job sector, at this point?

You go for whatever is right for you, OP, and damn all else.

lord

Ok, but you must agree that the cut off point is reasonable? If you are reducing your own gap by having more children then surely that is not reasonable? Im not talking about 'accidents' or 'rape' as a pp brought up. But actually making that decision to keep going regardless.

I'm not sure how much you think TAs are paid to think that !

The person who thinks three children isn't excessive is right ....no number of children is excessive so long as you can support them yourself. I knew one of the super family mums when she only had four kids , she now has thirteen. They however are self supporting and fiercely independent so good luck to them. She's a great Mum and in my eyes can have as many kids as she chooses as there is no benefit element and as she home schools her family probably cost the taxpayers less than most standard size families. As she and her husband both have a strong work ethic(yes she works too) no doubt the kids all will too. Certainly better than kids who see their Mum refusing to work and expecting everyone else to provide for her.

Notmuchtosay - you own a second house and are still entitled to tax credits of nearly £3000 a year! I admit that surprises me.

"Mother" as a career is fine provided you have the means to fund it as a full time occupation either within the limits of what the government will top you up with up to two kids or by your family (be that parents, spouse whatever). If not then you limit your family or work to help provide for them if you want more than two or make sure you marry a man financially willing and able to support your preferred lifestyle.

It was £400 a week not month so £20k plus, easily enough for two term time only TAs. As the DH was self employed, I'd guess icome was declared as a minimum to gain more.

Yes exactly. I'm saying do you expect me to say I don't want it. I think the cut off joint earnings is £37,000 for tax credits, we earned quite a bit below that despite me renting my property out and working part time. When we were getting £400 a week my OH was earning about £10k a year and my children were younger so I didn't work. But earning more now, plus I work. I'm just saying if it were you would you say no thanks?

Aworld

I'm intrigued by your use of 'reasonable' and 'not reasonable'... :) Are you implying that we all, individually and collectively, have a duty to reduce the disparity between real wage levels, and how much we all know it actually costs to live and raise a family? Why is not the private sector's responsibility to set pay at levels whereby people can function as reasonable members of society? Regardless.

Yes I would say no, I prefer to feed and clothe myself and children not be embarrassed that others are doing my job.

If everyone decided to be lazy and entitled then there would be no money to pay anything.

You'll not be the first person in the world to not be able to afford the family you wanted

Quite. We can't always have everything we want. Why do some people not understand that?

Unfortunately the tax credits culture encouraged this mindset.