to wish the changes on tax credits had of gone through

[madhurjazz]

They would of affected 1/5th of people on tax credits and that would of caused some issues in the short term so maybe some more help to transition was needed. But since that tax credits sad face woman on question time that was claiming them to run a salon in her lounge they u turned.

This has just resulted in cuts from other areas and not stopped the cuts at all.

Tax credits and housing benefit maybe a good idea for people in the short term. But many people are being long term subsidised and the main beneficiaries are the employers who get away with paying less and making more profits.

I'll probably get flamed for this but how can this country carry on racking up the debt? Its just going to create a greater financial burden on the future generations.

I work full time for the government and claim tax credits..even they aren't paying a decent living wage

eyebrows surely if increasing the minimum wage will cause more job !osses, those unemployed people will be claiming more benefits. Have a read of this

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/austerity-government-policy-conservatives-poor-food-banks-inequality-un-a7110066.html

but I'm a bit baffled by your numerous references to families having too many children. The average number of children per family in the UK is 1.8

That is a fertility rate at the higher end of the spectrum for a developed, or European country. The U.K. also features at the higher end of the spectrum for larger families (3/4/+ children).

How do you think the third and fourth child of a dv victim are going to fare next May?

They'd fare better if it were my proposal coming into effect. Because I suggested ageing children out of the system that they were conceived under.

I appreciate you don't like my plan. However given a long term trend of higher levels of disapproval of benefits in general and the hardened attitudes (not least from those who tend to support Labour) towards some of the groups we are focusing our discussion on, a position of...

"suggestions of any cuts to/restrictions on benefits reveal a black hearted soul. More tax from companies and the well off is the answer !" (as regularly seen on MN)

...is not on my personal table of potential solutions. Both the uncompromising nature of the stance and its sometimes sneery tone may even have been a contributory factor in the hardening of attitudes. It is certainly doomed to fail in a context of a Tory gov. proposing more cuts to take place relatively soon and likely working on future cuts to roll out in the not so distant future. All while Labour tears itself to pieces. Leaving no credible opposition in the house. With the curveball of Brexit looming as an unknown quantity for Britain's place in a globalised economy.

Not that I think my prefered solution has any realistic potential this late in the game either. Chances are that the boat has been well & truly missed for a fast tracked reversal of the whittled away, "protection from gov. cuts" the benefits system used to have when public perception of it was still largely supportive.

That's all pie in the sky. What matters is what's happening now and in April

www.workingfamilies.org.uk/news/preparing-for-tax-credit-cuts/

Reading that webpage, it's only a problem
If people don't pick up the phone and report changes, not sure what the issue is exactly ?

Haven't read the whole thread, but I too think tax credits are a terrible idea. As the OP said, it just allows employers to pay less than they should (ie a living wage), so the country ends up picking up the tab while big business gets off scot free.

Companies should be made to pay a living wage, then we wouldn't be in this situation. If you have a job then you should be able to live on your wages. For those who are employed part-time or are unemployed then of course there should be some help, but in the form of a specific benefit rather than a tax credit.

This whole "short term pain, long term gain bollocks" is only ever spouted by people who wont be affected either way. It's just a barely more acceptable way of saying "screw them, they are poor so don't matter".

gingerbread.org.uk/content/2135/Single-parents-and-cuts-to-tax-credits

Portia - the link mentions losing £1000 per year for a person working 20 hrs at £9.30 per hour ( the 2020 minimum wage).
This loss could be resolved by working 2hrs per week more, or 3hrs pre tax.
I think this is the idea, to work a few extra hours.
Then when the credits stop when children come of age, the mother feels less of a transition.
I hear the arguements around extra hours, but 2 or 3 is not so much?

Childcare !

On 1 September I was told that my work hours from 3 Oct are reducing from 28 to 16. No discussion, not my fault. Company can't afford me any more (£9/hour).
Thank goodness for tax credits which mean that my annual household income will not change. It will take time for me to find a new job with more hours that fits my skills, experience and childcare arrangements. Otherwise I wouldn't even be able to cover rent and food bills.
How long do you think I should take finding a new job, before the benefits are removed?

It is a mess, it really is.
But what of the disabled, the pensioners?
I wish in moments of faith in the system that it is to help people long term, the bigger picture so to speak.
Something has gone wrong, it is not a nice feeling.

Yes its a complete mess especially when you've been left on your own.

I'm going to take a really wild guess and say you wouldn't have been affected by the cuts, OP?

And Eastern, I've just been made redundant because of the increase to NMW. To pay for everybody else's government enforced pay increase, myself and 27 of my colleagues are now out of a job in November - the month before Christmas. We're just the first stage. There are more to follow next year.

Companies are, albeit slowly, being made to increase wages. The result? Redundancies to pay for it. The irony is that had I not been made redundant, I would have been earning more and qualifying for less tax credits next year. Now? My tax credits will increase next year due to job loss and an overall loss of annual income.

It has been intimated in politcal circles that in work benefits will be only paid to new foreign nationals with a residence of 5 years.
Existing are protected.
This may, it is thought, reduce the pressure on wages and employment demand.
This may be floated in the Autumn statement.
How do people feel about this?
Would it filter through, in time, to more oppertunity?

Portia - Yes, there was a time when a person could support themselves, the ultimate free choice.
Someone has taken that away.
It is not women or men, and most definitely not children.
Our lives have been commodized, our futures borrowed from debt.
We let this happen.

My part time wage plus tax credits adds up to almost 2k a month.

HateSummer

Is that after tax or your monthly take home income including tax credits?

I think there are many people just outside the tax credits threshold who have to work long hours in a full time job to take home this sort of money and still struggle. You can see why there might possibly be some resentment if you haven't had a pay rise for years and are just about coping financially even though you work your socks off.

If you had a baby tomorrow Portia it would be needing hardly any childcare by 2020 that wasn't provided free under the 15 hours thing

The government have promised childcare but there are not enough places plus the 15 hours are just for 3 and 4 year olds

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36529811

Yabu

I know people on lower income than us who are better off in cash terms as they are topped up to the same/higher level and get passport benefits too (childcare help, ctax benefit, school meals etc). But I prefer this than taking money from them so that we feel we have more.

For us though they enabled us to set up our own business. There's no way we could of done the transition period without them. We couldn't of saved enough for that period in our jobs. Now we don't claim anything and pay a lot more tax than in our old jobs, so in our situation they benefitted the country.

For me they put food on the table when I needed to feed dd because her Father skipped the Country ( i think) and left me with a child a mortgage, bills to pay facial injuries and a broken arm.

www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/tax-credit-back-payments-hmrc-concentrix-mistakes-a7309746.html

user1471439240
Portia - Yes, there was a time when a person could support themselves, the ultimate free choice.

You live in a fantasy world. That sounds like right wing libertarian politics. not real life.
Working class women used to starve thenselves to feed their families. I've seen it first hand.

User1471 is a right wing libertarian, believes that all it takes is hard work and good choices, and other such vacuous bullshit.