To be irritated by this £100k a year whiner

[Viviennemary]

On Question Time tonight they were talking about subsidised childcare and the new benefits for younger children. Then a woman came on with a boo hoo sad face and said she wouldn't be getting it. So I think Fiona Bruce said because your income is £100k a year plus Then she said that it wasnt fair as there was only one wage. And their household only had one earner.

Well tough. Folk on just over £12k a year are paying tax and this cheeky woman thinks her child care should be subsidised. It made me mad.

I earn 12k a year…. I do not enjoy the welfare state benefits. I do not claim any benefits.

How are you surviving? I guess your household income is higher overall? Genuinely curious, no shade!

it just seems unfair that working hard these days you pay more than half of your salary in taxes 100k take home is like £5000k a month
it's not whining it's too much taxes and don't blame her for whining

The welfare state is not just financial payments into your bank account. It includes the NHS. You might say ‘I never use the NHS’ but the fact is that this is provided for you if you should ever need it. You slip in the shower tomorrow and break your leg? There is a hospital there with doctors and nurses who will fix you up after the ambulance had taken you there. And none of it will cost you a penny at the point you need it. And you will be given some sickness pay if you cannot work whilst you recover. The welfare state (ie other tax payers) provide this insurance for you by paying for the hospitals and the salaries of staff and any drugs, surgeries or implants you would need. And you know if you cannot wipe your arse whilst you recover? The welfare state will provide someone to do that for you too.

If you think that having this insurance is not worth anything I have some Americans I would like you to meet where the average cover costs almost $500 a month (and will still have deductibles and copayments). Now if you guarantee that if you ever get ill you just will not ever use the NHS or claim sickness benefits or the social care to support you as you recuperate then I guess I would concede that you probably don’t enjoy benefits of the welfare state.

@TheOneWithUnagi yeah he earns 100k but his income is complicated as it’s made up of bonuses, salary and commission so he never quite knows until end of tax year what it’ll be. This year will be much higher so he doesn’t want to put it into pension. I am aware we are very fortunate to be in this situation and we can comfortably afford the childcare without the benefits but my point is it does not make any sense to give a family whose combined earnings is 190k tax free childcare and 30hrs free hours but a family who earns 120k gets nothing doesn’t make any sense to me!

When I started work in 1971 the basic rate was 38.75%, with 8% NI on top. That’s what everyone paid, not just high earners.

I think the point is if there were two adults in the household earning 99k each you would qualify

or if two parents or a single parent sits on benefits they qualify as the child is classed as disadvantaged

Or if one parent is a lot older and claiming state and a private pension over the minimum threshold of 167.50 per week but far less than a 100k income household they don’t qualify

The system has gaps, that is the point. So no it isn’t inherently fair

I was reading something that a problem in rhe UK is that people on 100k don’t ‘feel very wealthy’ despite being well in the top 5% of earners. I wish I could find a source as the article was interesting.

@noodlebugz the reason why 100k earners do not feel very wealthy is because these 100k jobs are often in London where it cost an arm to buy a very average modest house and childcare is extortion! We are just outside of London and our childcare cost is £2k a month for 1 child. A lot of my friends pay 4k for 2 kids to attend and another 2k on mortgage so yes I don’t feel wealthy and non of my 100k London living earning friends do either.

Council tax reduction does seem fair to me - you still have a bin to empty, a street to clean, street lighting, environmental protection, policing to protect your home, a library to use. It is always a little uneven because we without young children, also contribute to education, free school meals, childcare for example. That is what a caring community does

my DH earns £100k . I SAHM and cant work because i have disabled children. Eventhough i dont need childcare anymore but Its very unfair. Not all people can work due to circumstances. Childcare should be based on household income not one person income.

the Aqueduct?

if you increase the discount on the council tax to make it fair, you end up with the poll tax, which causes riots.

A lot will depend on where she lives too. As a young couple we were forced out of our London home area by rental prices. My grandparents are long gone, but the properties around their former home go from £3K to £5K per month rent (Although you can a distance away pick up something for as little😂as £2.1K). I just looked up the local nursery and we are talking £1.6K per month, plus early and late hours supplements, which I guess she might be paying if she is a high earner. Eye watering, isn't it?

It is easily possibly to create a set of rules that make it fairer and even, BUT if there is only one wage earner in a couple, surely it is possible for the other parent to be the child carer?

Well then, claim the benefits. Problem solved.

Correct me if I m wrong - 100k threshold relates to adjusted net income. If the gross annual pay is on or over 100k, the adjusted net income equals the gross annual salary minus the pension contribution. Therefore, you can earn quite a bit more than 100k while still qualifying for tax-free childcare and 30 hours etc.

Yes it is of course a choice. Please also remember that when our children become adults they are the ones paying for the NHS, social services and state pensions of us all when we are old. People seem to think their ‘stamp’ NI, etc are saved up somehow to cover all this ( “it’s what we are used, we posted taxes all our lives” etc) but they don’t. Kids will be taxed to death to pay for their parents’ entire generation ( even the childless ones) and even their very aged grandparents

Why not @Jojobees ? At £12K you pay no tax, but claiming tax credits, just for the little £570 difference will open doors for free prescriptions, eye tests, fuel payments, and, if you can find one, free NHS dental treatment. This is NOT a benefit, it is your entitlement.

@ftp £1600 per month in childcare cost in London is considered cheap 😂 All the ones near me are around 2k

There is no way that child care COSTS £4K per month. For it to cost anything like that, you would have to be subsidising so many of societies real parasites and freeloaders. Same with the aged car situation and everything to do with the housing market. As for the lowest paid 'not contributing to society' I would more correctly say that barring that tiny percentage avoiding work, the lumpen mass of low paid workers are actually subsidising everyone else on account of delivering goods and services far more cheaply than you should be paying. Also, as a couple, we spent most of the last 15 years before retirement living on circa £10kpa in between shitty underpaid part time jobs, no benefits as we had savings. 30% of that £10k was spent on taxes.

Someone is getting rich. Not the low paid worker actually doing the job, she couldn't afford child care herself.

Oh, it's income when he invests it wisely and then benefits off the dividends every year. He would have taken advice from an accountant not to piss it away on a luxury package holiday for the family.

Generally for low paid workers the cost of childcare exceeds the benefit of working. So those who do actually work and pay a small amount of tax ARE contributing something. Without the free childcare working would not be a viable proposition and they would be SAH parents collecting Universal Credit. Then the higher paid workers would whinge that they’re lazy layabouts and all the other disgusting names those who are better off call disadvantaged wage or benefit recipients. Mrs £100 py should recognise that the people caring for her children are the very people who are low paid workers. She should try living on those tiny incomes and know what it is to struggle every day to feed children, keep them warm and healthy. We are all on the precipice of suddenly becoming sick, disabled or some other tragedy so don’t disparage others who are living with misfortune.

Depends on location, in some areas typically large towns and small cities they can be highly cash positive. However it only works as an extension of a property business.

Sounds like quite a privilege, but surely you should be fiscally responsible for this and not expect so much pension for example in later life