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AIBU?

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Original poster

Accidentally pregnant so will I get tax credits when partner has another child ??

88 replies

Confusedbutton · 15/04/2017 16:54

So I am pregnant due to a double contraception failure and I'm confused about the tax credit rules. I have a child and this will be my second but my partner has a child with another woman.
The website said i wouldn't get help if this is the third child were responsible for but the child my partner doesn't live here so does it count as this pregnancy being the third ?? Or would this be the second as my partners other child doesn't live with us ??

OP posts:
MummyBearToTeddy · 15/04/2017 18:39

@babyroobs we don't get them. We don't even get child benefit!

twofingerstoEverything · 15/04/2017 18:39

Pregnancies really should be means-tested.

Yes, LondonMum8. Only rich people should have babies. and if their circumstances change later on, they should be thrown into the poor house, or their children should be given away to a more deserving family.

Pinkandwhiteblossoms · 15/04/2017 18:39

I'm not entirely sure I understand the point but anyway, I don't think people claiming what they are entitled to is an issue.

Babyroobs · 15/04/2017 18:42

The thresholds for claiming for 2 children which is now the maximum new claimants will be able to claim for is pretty low ( around £32k I think). I can completely understand why people on that income would need them, particularly in London as op states she is.

WankingMonkey · 15/04/2017 19:00

I think the family element is only being taken away for new claims from April 6th so my understanding is that you will continue to get that if you already have a tax credit claim.

Its only the family element being taken off? So you still get tax credits for more than 2 kids? I thought it was none fullstop after 2.

OP, its only for resident children. So your partners child with someone else won't count unless he currently claims the tax credit for that child.

Viviennemary · 15/04/2017 19:00

You will still get the tax credits if your partners child doesn't live with you. If the child does then you won't get any extra for the third child. It's children per household. So stop worrying.

Babyroobs · 15/04/2017 19:06

Wanking. I think from April 6th 2017 new claims will no longer get the family element which was around £540 a year. They are also limited to claiming the child element for 2 children.
I have 4 kids and we don't claim any tax credits currently. If my dh now lost his job tomorrow and we needed to open a new claim we would only get the child element for 2 of our children and we would not get the family element. I think this is quite poor considering we have not claimed tax credits for the last 15 years. We would get hardly any help even for a short period whilst we got back on our feet.

Babyroobs · 15/04/2017 19:11

And just to add anyone who already has more than 2 children will continue to get tax credits for all of them if born before 6th April, but not for a third child born after April 6th and if opening a new claim now you only get them for a maximum of 2 kids even if they were born before April 6th.
This is how I understand the new rules anyway.

Viviennemary · 15/04/2017 19:16

I agree that it doesn't seem fair to people with more than two children who fall on hard times and lose their job in the future. But I expect the reasoning behind it is to make people stop and think can I afford more than two children. Which doesn't really add up as some people just aren't responsible and expect the state to step in with long term help for ever more. . It's these scroungers that have spoilt things for everyone. As always.

Babyroobs · 15/04/2017 19:22

Exactly Vivienne - We have both always worked. I went back to work when each of my children were 6 months old doing nightshifts whilst my dh worked days. We never claimed any help for childcare in 17 years for this reason and haven't claimed any tax credits for 15 years. yet if one of us lost our jobs tomorrow we'd get very little help when we need it..
Some families chose to never work or have a sahp for years on end and claim tax credits yet will carry on getting help for years on end for as many kids as they have on their claim. I'm not talking about families who have no choice through disability or caring for a disabled child as clearly they have no choice and every right to be supported.

WankingMonkey · 15/04/2017 19:25

It will definitely hit those who are working then are made redundant or something harder. Or divorces/breakups.

Another cut that hasn't been thought through at all.

The safety net for mothers (and father, but usually mothers) to GTFO of a violent relationship and such is being slowly removed piece by piece.

Babyroobs · 15/04/2017 19:28

I currently am working 2 jobs amounting to more than full time hours and my dh working 40+ hours a week, the theory being that if one job is lost there will be enough income from the others to keep going now that any safety net has gone !!

We had our kids relatively late and are now both in our 50's . We constantly worry about how difficult it might be to find replacement jobs quickly in the event of job losses.

Original poster
Confusedbutton · 15/04/2017 19:28

I should send you the chair that's in my office it's become a running joke that anyone who sits on the chair for a couple of months gets pregnant, I didn't believe in the superstition but now I do and that chair is being locked away on Tuesday !!

The new guidelines are horrific because if this did count as my third I wouldn't get tax credits and the baby wouldn't be counted in housing benefit calculations either so I would be royally screwed even though I took all the precautions I could of to prevent this.

OP posts:
life07 · 15/04/2017 19:29

So men can have two kids with one woman then leave and get to have more while the women would get no tax credits if she got a new partner and had more children.

Babyroobs · 15/04/2017 19:30

And yes wanking it will be so much harder for women to leave abusive relationships knowing that the safety net has been removed.
None of it has been properly thought out.

Babyroobs · 15/04/2017 19:39

Op, I think maybe you could still count a third child in for housing benefit calculations just not for the child element of tax credits.
I think you can also get childcare help for a third.

splendide · 15/04/2017 20:01

Yes Life, but the man can only have more with a woman with no children. Otherwise that household would be claiming the max already. It's 2 per claim not per person.

WankingMonkey · 15/04/2017 20:26

None of it has been properly thought out.

Not being thought out is the best situation.

As the other option is...its been thought out and the saving money is worth more than peoples lives. Which is just evil.

A lot of people I see supporting the cap have more than 2 kids themselves but are 'alright' as they earn over the threshold. They don 't seem to understand that this could affect them too.

Just like all the part time workers and such who applauded universal credit as it would 'get the scroungers off their arses'. Didn't realise anyone working under 40 hours would be made to jobseek or pressure to switch jobs...

life07 · 15/04/2017 20:35

Are they going to increase the rate of maintenance a man who has 3 kids with one woman pays to help with the shortfall?I doubt it and then when these men have more children or moves in with someone who already has kids child maintenance is also lowered. so they are left with the option of no more children and then paying towards the ex having more.

user1489261248 · 15/04/2017 20:36

I am not going to attack the OP, but how the hell does she or anyone else think people coped before tax credits?! Hmm

Thank goodness they have brought a rule in now that means people only get tax credits for the first 2 children.

Sod sounding like a right wing tory daily mail reader, which I will no doubt be called, enough is enough! People who have worked hard for many years to earn good wages, don't get shedloads of extra tax credits when they have additional children, so why should people on low income and people on benefits get extra tax credits for additional children?

Really bugs the hell out of me. Like I said, capping tax credits at 2 children is the best thing this Government has done.

needsahalo · 15/04/2017 20:41

Really bugs the hell out of me. Like I said, capping tax credits at 2 children is the best thing this Government has done

Hope that thing called life never happens to you, you would need to eat those words.

Babyroobs · 15/04/2017 20:43

I suppose before tax credits there was a lot more child poverty. I do think it has got out of hand now though, the amounts that some large families get.
I think these big families getting hundreds a week in tax credits are a very small minority though.

Babyroobs · 15/04/2017 20:46

The things is though that capping tax credits won't stop people having large families, it will just increase child poverty. In the city where I live there are certain ethnic minority groups who have 4/5 kids for cultural or religious reasons. They won't stop having them just as those living in chaotic situations won't. There will just be more kids living in poverty with less money to go round.

MummyBearToTeddy · 15/04/2017 20:48

A lot of things have changed though in other places. When I was young my parents had to buy me my school uniform and pe kit. These days it's supplied along with shoes and stationary and all school books.

Farontothemaddingcrowd · 15/04/2017 20:52

This thread reminds me of this: 'Are there no prisons...and the Union workhouses...let them go there.' Seems the message of A Christmas Carol is still needed.
Actually I think tax credits have created a vicious circle, they subsidise below par wages in many cases. The cost of living is ridiculous in many places. Congratulations on your baby OP. I'm sure you will be able to claim tax credits but you can always give the helpline a ring.