To be pissed off at the new tax free childcare

[childcarechallenge]

NC for this.

We have two DC in childcare and live in London. I'm starting a new job next month and my salary is 48K, after tax, student loan, childcare costs and tube to work plus a few other generally working expenses (clothes etc) I've worked out that I will take home less than £200 a month.

DH earns a good salary which is good because we almost completely rely on his salary for rent, bills etc. He just received a large bonus which pushes him over 100K which is the new limit for the new tax free childcare scheme from the government.

Essentially, between 100K and 120K after tax, student loan, the loss of his "tax free allowance" which is clawed back over 100K, and the fact that we will not be able to claim £4000 back on our childcare because he is no longer under 100K (This applies to BOTH of us because of his salary) means that of that £20K we are actually only £1800 better off. AIBU to think that this is complete robbery - DH works extremely hard, very long hours (sometimes 70 hour weeks) in a high stress environment and the government seem to take an obscene amount of his salary.

We have an opportunity coming up to move to a lower tax country in a year or so with his job and this just makes me really want to take it, AIBU?

Totally OT but are the childcare vouchers stopping????

OP we are also in London. I'm on 32k but only work 28 hrs. DH is on 80 plus bonus taking him up to over 100k (he does not work a 70 hour week, no salary is worth that IMHO)

For one child in childcare 4 days a week we pay approx 900 per month. I get £120 a month in childcare vouchers on top of the salary sacrifice childcare vouchers. DH gets salary sacrifice childcare vouchers.

DHs salary after tax is just over £4000 and mine is just over £1400 (same amount as our mortgage incidentally). I consider ourselves to be pretty well off tbh so I don't really understand your post - unless I am being very dense.

ha not that good a university or I'd have proof read better!

Lorelai, I wouldn't expect 148k to pay for much for two people working in London with a half hour commute.

Nepotism is rife. Internships are the route into many industries and they are often (not in this case) about who you know.

One change I think there should be is that single parents should be able to claim higher amount of childcare vouchers as currently can only claim £243 per month whereas families with 2 parents can claim double that as each parent can claim the £243. So they get double the benefit despite having 2 salaries. I think if you are a one parent family you should be entitled to a higher amount of tax free vouchers.

Many people, children or not, have longer than a half hour commute. Especially when you're trying to establish yourself when young.

Do you think that maybe you'd all be better off if your dh took a different, slightly lower paid job and got to spend a bit more time with you and your children?

It isn't as a consequence of having the degree I'm talking about. If you apply for a job and get it from a total stranger because you have a degree that isn't nepotism.

Nepotism is people who know each other through university etc getting each other jobs.

No-one has to live and work in London - it's a choice, just like lots of other things. There are jobs elsewhere and some do pay quite well.

I'm sure if you have the skills and reputation to earn £100k+ in London, you would be able to get a decent job elsewhere even if it isn't exactly what you do in London.

So if you choose to work in London in a job/jobs that don't pay very well after housing and childcare costs, you could do something about it yourself, instead of complaining that the government isn't helping you out enough.

He could get a job where he earns less and then he would have to pay less tax. And yes, please do move to another country. This sort of attitude is why the NHS and social care is in the state it is in. You are not worth more than people who earn less.

I agree that's not nepotism.

Because a) outside of London jobs are paid a lot less, and b) it's not that simple to guarantee a good candidate when recruiting for a role, is it?

If you'd meant for your example to reflect regional variations, why didn't you say so?

I think your 'b' is a bit of a cop-out, isn't it? If an employer has a 100K employee that he suspects he could replace with a 20K employee (and even a bit of training) he'll save 80K.

Or the far more likely scenario is that his boss gave him a budget to hire some employees, based on average salaries for that skill set, and he got a handful of candidates from a recruitment agency.

Yes, I agree with you Venus. I'm complicating the thread by not putting the name of the person I'm responding to at the top of my posts. Sorry.

Six, you are taking that totally out of context of the original point which was that the DH could choose to take on a lower paid job outside London

Okay. Probably me not reading it correctly or being over sensitive due to being a carer on £63 per week after having to give up a well Paid job to look after my disabled child. There are a few people on the thread that seem to think good qualifications and skills and working hard always means greater earnings and that simply isn't true.
I am lucky though in that I live outside of London and we can afford a 4 bed house on my husbands (Lower tax band) salary and my £63 a week carers allowance. fortunately I am
Not currently repaying my student loan but I would happily do so if I was able to return to work.

OP, you're getting somewhat of a hard time. I get it, I'm in that tax bracket. If it is super borderline, consider a higher pension contribution.

But it is churlish to complain when being in that bracket means I am far more well off that the majority of people. Benefits are removed from me because I no longer need them. This is a good thing. To be on an income that puts you in the top echelons of earners and complaining about not getting state benefits (which is what childcare rebates and tax free thresholds essentially are) is pretty selfish.

Besides, I may get taxed more for the time being, but I don't plan on staying in this tax bracket forever. And while I do my pension contributions, my bonus and my payrise are all based off this salary so I am still doing better than I was at a lower salary.

Museum of Curry, maybe you should start your own thread?

There's masses of evidence around who gets paid high salaries and why.

It certainly is not so simple as supply and demand.

It's a whole topic in itself, and has little to do with the DH of the OP, who none of us know and is just one person.

I've repeatedly made the point that people are paid less outside London. We are talking about relative talent levels. Living in London itself to get your inflated London salary is something not everyone can afford. It's a balancing act. It doesn't mean that a person who lives in Hull and earns £30k for pretty much the same job is less talented or hardworking than this guy. There is no basis for that assumption.

Museum of Curry, maybe you should start your own thread?

Or perhaps Venus should?

No worries almond, I've done it too!

TBH a lot of people living in London want to live in a period 4 bedder with garden somewhere like Islington so of course £148k isn't going to get you far.

We live in a cheap area of SE London in a 2 bed gardenless flat and have more than enough.

I'm always amazed at what people think they need.

I've repeatedly made the point that people are paid less outside London.

Is that really a point worth repeating? Surely everyone knows this. It's not very meaningful to compare a 100K salary in London to a 20K salary in the NE.

Why? I'm pointing out where the OP is naive and entitled. This is AIBU, and SI.

And contrary to popular belief being a high earner doesn't mean you work really hard necessarily. DH works hard during his working day but he's there 8-5. If he was having to work all evening and/or at the weekends we would rethink.

Yes it is a point worth repeating. Why do you think an inflated London salary is a marker of an individual's personal talent and work ethic? You've said yourself, it's all just supply and demand.

Why? I'm pointing out where the OP is naive and entitled. This is AIBU, and SI.

I don't think you should, actually, just a rhetorical comment to almond.