To question this...?

[foureleven]

I saw this on another thread and kind of hope the mum in question doesnt see this because I dont want to cause offense... just genuinely interested in peoples views..

(..treads carefully...)

I spotted this person say that she is a SAHM and her husband brings home £1000 a month. Plus they get child tax credits. Now I assume this is not 'working tax credits' as thats for childcare right? And they wont need it if she doesnt work.

It may be that its not a lot of money anyway and not worth getting one's knickers in a twist for but AIBU to wonder why a SAHM can claim benefits (other than initial maternity benefits of course)?

If you are a SAHM because your partner earns enough to cover everything thats one thing (and a debate for another thread, this is not ANOTHER SAHM Vs WOHM debate!)but why can women receive top up money to be able to stay at home with the children they cant really afford to?

Shouldnt we be responsible for bringing enough money in to the home for our children?

Genuinely ponders....

foureleven unless you earn over 50k between you and your dp/h or on your own, you actually can claim.

is it just me or would everyone like to swap their wtc/ctc for that amount of money?

afaik EVERY Household with a child under tha age of either 16 or 18 gets £20 child benefit per week, then there is child tax credit and working tax credit.

shall we just let this all pass? OP obviously didn't know it was a common thing, that it was actually available to many many people and that it isn't benefits and we're not all cheating the government out of taxpayers money because we're lazy workers/lazy stay at home mums

I dont have a problem with people claiming what they are entitled to... when did I say that?

I was questioning a system that tops up income for families who choose to have one partner stay at home and bring up the children as it is my belief if you cant afford to stay at home you should try to get a job rather than be able to fall back on benefits.

What I have learned today is that if you want to stay at home with your kids, the government says 'hey thats fine, we'll pay you to do that'

What if all mum's chose to do that instead of work... ? where would all the money come from.

Im not saying dont claim what youre entitled to, Im saying why is it that you are entitled to it?

Like I think of the WHOs reccomendation of breastfeeding for at least 2 years. Maternity leave is 6m (is that right?), that's useless. Esp. if you have to take it before baby is born. But wages are so poor time after time I see mothers writing on here about how they have to go back to work. They shouldn't have to. They should have the choice not be have to work, or at the very least have a years mat. leave.

Sure it's been said but child tax credits and he can earn working tax credits.

Bringing children up is work.

It's an investment in the future of the country.

It's like feminism never happened.

foureleven - if you cant afford to stay at home you need a job that pays for childcare as well as the 'shortfall' in your income.

"I don't think anyone questions the fact that a parent (pref. mum) staying at home is best"

Jeeze.

foureleven still hasn't got the distinction between benefits and tax credits...

"What if all mum's chose to do that instead of work... ? where would all the money come from."

What if you had a bad start, little education. You worked hard, but 'only' as a cleaner. You aren't allowed to have children despite working full time? (I am putting a man as the cleaner in this, with a wife who wants a baby). This baby needs feeding - but because your DH is 'only' a cleaner you have to go out to work, to the detriment of your child? Is that how we want children to be raised? Newborns placed in childcare or not born at all, causing a declining population? We would all love to be lawyers and what not, but it just doesn't work like that. The world would go to pot without the min. wage earners (fruit pickers, cleaners, shop workers), they are needed - we can't be a country full of lawyers and vets.

LadyInTheRadiator - I am bitter about it of course..! Thats my point and no what you put it CAPS is not what i was saying at all (haha who sounds bitter there?!)

I was just saying for every person moaning about one situation there is one moaning from the other side of the fence and we need to ask the questions to be able to understand it.

Thats what I love about the website, seeing through other peoples eyes and being able to ask questions we proabably would ask people face to face in real life.

I wouldn't swap my household salary for WTC or CTC no. Thats the choice I made when my little girl was 5 months old. Shall I be hard up or shall I work? And I made my choice. Im not saying it was the right choice or whatever it was just the one that was right for us.

Thanks for suggesting we'll let it pass !!!! I didnt understand, I didnt know anything about it! My original post is a general pondering and invite for information and views on something I know nothing about.. thats all.

And now I understand. Well, kind of. I understand that I dont get a lot of the values that the government holds and pushes on to all of us but thats a whole other subject!!!!

My DH earns the same as Witchywoowoo £1000 a month. That only covers our rent, council tax and electricty bill every month. We get the same amount a month in tax credits (both CTC and WTC) as he earns. We still struggle. I am a SAHM. We have 3 children. If I was to work full time my wages would be eaten up by childcare costs and yes even with tax credits. It's just the way the system is. So far it has served us well as I wanted to stay at home, but now my youngest is 3 I am wanting to get back to work. Only I can't because we'll be completely worse off. So I have to wait until she's 5 and in school.

You don't agree with values such as people, particularly children, should have enough money to eat and have heating and things?

Nice.

And they're not benefits. Only today I have called up about tax credits and found that we would be entitled to them. (Working tax credits that is as our first DC isn't here yet.) I earn a pittance as a trainee teacher as does the husband...he isn't classed as working as he only receives (good) bursaries. My training route is different so I am classed as paid. The application wouldn't take him into account as he is a student and I would be entitled.

This poses a different question...we can (and have been until I realised today that we might be eligible ) live on what we have coming in...just. Should I still be allowed to claim? And as I chose to reduce my income from a hefty one in my previous career to a lesser one perhaps I should be ineligible on those fronts too?

OP, you just sound mean. Let's leave it be now. No-one here is defrauding anyone (as far as we know, ) working tax credits aren't benefits.

When our child arrives I will be a SAHM for a few years I think, and we will claim what we are entitled to. As tax payers for the last 15 yrs plus isn't that part of the deal? The right to choose?

and before anyone jumps me, I am going with the scenario that mum wants to stay at home in my "what ifs".

there are 2 types of credit. one is to cover childcare and the other is basically paying bit less tax . The latter category goes to the parent that stays at home, so she would be the one that gets it.

Its NOT a childcare thing, its about paying a little bit less tax as you have more to support from your salary. and the credit goes to the main carer

so thats is why!

Actually, people without children can claim WTC.

A single person earning less that £12kpa can claim.

A couple with a joint income of less than £20k pa can also claim.

now I have no idea how much they can claim and the figures may be incorrect as I am trying to remember what, exactly, the leaflet from HRMC about 2 yrs ago actually stated.

Anyway, might point is that there is surely supposed to be a minimum standard of living in this country and WTC is trying to address this issue.

foureleven still hasn't got the distinction between benefits and tax credits...

I do understand the difference but I really thought that CREDITS were to top up two paid incomes that fell below what you can support a family on. Because minimum wage is so low.

I didnt realise that you had a choice not to work based on the fact that you had children that you could claim CREDITS to support that decision. Because I would actually call that benefits. Correction; would have called that benefits, but now you have all corrected me.

Ps ASecretlemonadedrinker; as lots of people have taken offense to me I will admit that I take offense to your statements about 'you have to go out to work, to the detriment of your child? '
At least when I gave my opinions I said each time that they were 'opinions' and I relise I may not be right.
Who gave you the right to the first and last word on raising children?

LadyintheRadiator - it was the CAPS and angry words like 'Benefit scroungers' that made me feel you were bitter in some way. Sorry, easy to misread type.