A Universal Credit

[Xenia]

As I had suggested, so now treads Iain Duncan Smith - merger of benefits and tax credits so you genuinely gain if you take a job. It also helps him with his sexist view women should be home with babies.
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Housing benefit, income support, council tax benefit, working tax credit and child tax credit would be replaced by one single benefit. This could then "taper off" at a uniform rate providing a simple and transparent path back into the workforce for those currently caught in the benefits trap."

It's not quite a universal payment to all adults whether in work or not or whatever their income but it would be a welcome simplification and could help ensure people did work.

I shall hold you to that lol .... not sure about the nanny I think she poached her from the local nursery, but where there's a will there must be a way, of course he then has to land the £35k job.

AH my thread may have done some good (if we think more people claiming more money from tax payers is a good I suppose). I suppose the tax on the £35k would leave the state not out of pocket.

The country is awash with people wanting work and some will be very skilled childcarers able to look after children with SN. If you can pay people are there.

Had a quick scan of this last night. I love your idea Xenia. The only concern I have with it is for single parents and the child care issues. They would get the basic then have to go out to work, nothing wrong with that, I did it and others can too. I reckon that they would have to factor in subsidised child care. So minimum wage (this is the worse case scenario) is £5.80 so make state child care a couple of pounds and hour.

It all sounds to good to be true but if you can influence the current powers that be to look at something like this I would be very grateful.

Would cut down on fraud, be cheaper to administer and for many women with partners would make it worthwhile staying at home thus freeing up jobs for the unemployed who want to work.

Just had another look and not sure how you have worked out 60m x £200 x 52 that comes to 624???, I'm rubbish with large figures so not sure how much that is.

"The idea we might encourage people to live with a partner and family members is not such a bad one. Most of the planet operates on that basis. If you can affordn ot to you would often choose not to but if you can't afford to pay to live apart then I don't see why taxpayers should be funding that. "

Eh?

What if the daddy goes off shagging his PA or whatever, what if he just stops wanting to do mummies and daddies with you?

You can't ask families to stay together when so many men (and sometimes women) think they are disposable.

We should Tax men on use of their penis. £50 an insertion into anyone who isn't their wife.

Okay, I jest.

I am afraid that, interesting as this idea is, the figures just don't add up. As abouteve has pointed out, the costs Xenia calculated for this system are per week, not per year.

According to the ONS there are 48.8 million 16+ year olds in the UK so that would mean that to pay £200 a week to all adults would cost £507.5 billion a year (plus administration costs).

The total UK tax revenue is about £606 billion which means that under this plan there would be almost nothing left for anything else (defence, NHS, education, etc.) even assuming that the introduction of a citizen's wage did not prove to be a disincentive to work (which is what happened in the US when this was trialled.)

If the entire benefit budget (£109 billion) was turned into a universal payment this would result in a weekly payment of £43 a week.