Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be pissed off about paying back child benefit

560 replies

pinotnow · 05/02/2023 16:56

I am in a sector that was awarded a pay rise this year - though our union is fighting for a higher one. The rise was from September but our school (yes, it's teaching) didn't pay it until November when we got months at once. HR always send us a pay statement at this time of year and I have just opened mine and seen I am now on approx £52k (been teaching 18 years and am head of a core subject in a large secondary school). I understand I now have to pay back some of my child benefit. This is a pisser as things are pretty tight and I'm a lone parent who gets no CM (ex is a total waste of space - I've gone through CMS). Also, I wasn't expecting it this year (I was on £49k last year and now I'm worried I've missed some sort of deadline for paying it back as technically I've been on this for 5-6 months, but only just realised.

I really haven't got the head space for this now and a quick Google has just brought confusion. As soon as you move forwards a bit in this shithole country you move backwards it seems. Any advice would be great!

OP posts:
usernamealreadytaken · 16/02/2023 15:14

TheLostGiraffe · 16/02/2023 14:01

@usernamealreadytaken and your problem with having overqualified people is what exactly? Again surely we should have been grateful for that!! Even if working below their skill level they managed to be on average net contributors to the economy, which the average British person is not.

I don't often swear but WTF?? Why should we be grateful for having overqualified migrant workers working below their skill level and claiming benefits? How, exactly, does that benefit us?

You know how averages work? There will be a few highly skilled highly paid workers who are net contributors, but then hundreds of net recipients are "averaged" to magically appear to be net contributors. If we just had the actual net contributors then this country would be in a far better financial position.

This thread has been an absolute eye-opener. Highly paid professionals encouraging other highly paid professionals to minimise their tax in order to continue to receive state assistance, and simultaneously vilifying the government for not providing more state assistance to more people, which they can't afford to do because so many people avoid paying their full taxes. You couldn't make it up!

Dobby123456 · 16/02/2023 15:57

TheLostGiraffe · 16/02/2023 13:58

I didn't vote Brexit, but I do have a question in my mind on this topic that goes something like 'Why are taking skilled people from other countries, rather than training people here?' and 'Why don't British people want to do jobs like midwifery that should be a very fulfilling and well-respected occupation?'

So what is the complaint? First it was that most migrants are not skilled enough but now apparently it is that we shouldn't have been taking the skilled one?

It benefits everyone to have people with different skills and backgrounds moving around. Avoids groupthink. Helps economies, fills specific skills gaps at any given time that occur due to a wide range of reasons: structural changes or demographic changes or sector-specific changes happening at different paces at different times in different countries, etc. Worth noting also that there were a higher number of British people migrating for work to other countries than from any other country in the EU, before Brexit. So the hypocrisy of such arguments is staggering and ill-informed.

Haven't we got rather off topic?

I simply responded to the content of your previous post.

What previous post?🤔

TheLostGiraffe · 16/02/2023 16:12

If the UK is suddenly an unattractive place to work, why do we have more migrant workers living and working here than ever?

🙄😆

Obviously it isn't unattractive to most of the world population. It's unattractive now to our historical comparator countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, France. Have a look at the migration stats and economic comparisons over time.

TheLostGiraffe · 16/02/2023 16:14

I don't often swear but WTF?? Why should we be grateful for having overqualified migrant workers working below their skill level and claiming benefits? How, exactly, does that benefit us?

What are you talking about? The entire point I was making is that it's been proved multiple times by large scale research that EU migrants were net contributors to the economy. I.e. they used less in services/ benefits than they paid in, consistently. Most were not claiming benefits at all. They were a net benefit to the economy, unlike the average UK citizen (only 10% of those born here are net contributors).

Zax · 16/02/2023 17:09

This thread has now drifted right off course, hopefully towards The Bermuda Triangle.

TheLostGiraffe · 16/02/2023 20:57

I guess people are always mosf comfortable with what they are familiar with, so your longing for a place where nothing makes sense makes sense. A natural homeland.

Zax · 17/02/2023 08:33

TheLostGiraffe · 16/02/2023 20:57

I guess people are always mosf comfortable with what they are familiar with, so your longing for a place where nothing makes sense makes sense. A natural homeland.

I'm longing for a place where 'your' and 'you're' are used where they should be. That would make more sense in my natural homeland.

usernamealreadytaken · 18/02/2023 10:35

@Zax the "your" was correct, but possibly could have been clearer with a comma, or brackets - the reference was to "your longing" making sense, not "you are longing".

I guess people are always mosf comfortable with what they are familiar with, so your longing (for a place where nothing makes sense,) makes sense. A natural homeland.

TheLostGiraffe · 18/02/2023 11:36

I'm longing for a place where 'your' and 'you're' are used where they should be. That would make more sense in my natural homeland.

"Your longing for a place..." makes perfect sense.

Nothing more embarrassing than a vocal pedant who tries to point out a grammar error but is in fact wrong themselves. Oh dear.

EasterIssland · 01/03/2023 14:03

Just seen Michael gove has said child benefit should be cancelled. And thought about @Zax ! Have you had your chat with your mp? Looks like it’s had an effect!
tho it’s seems it’s mainly for those parents that don’t provide an education to their children rather than to the rich ones

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64803947.amp

New posts on this thread. Refresh page