Right you lot we need to get our act together

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

So many threads about Child Benefits, but we need to get our act together and speak as a cohesive voice.

Lottiegal has started n FB page: MAKE CHILD BENEFIT FAIR FOR ALL.
Has anyone else started one too?

A FB is a small start, so is writing to your MP. But they are just small actions that need to grow. We need to get our act together on this.

Yes - with mortgage, a large one at that because of our ages and when it took us to be able to get on the housing ladder (the peak). I understand that 'on paper' DH's income sounds good but it doesn't take a genius to realise that in the area we live we are certainly not what you expect when you think of a higher rate tax payer. All DH's income just meets the bills. I know that we are 'fortunate' and our situation is a little skewed from the norm because of several factors: twins, no family for childcare, disability to name three just off the top of my head. And as I said I don't dispute that cuts need to be made, and in principal do not 'mind' them affecting my family. But they do need to be made fairly.

Sorry, after your post Weegle that sounds really insensitive - it is just really hard for me to understand. I don't go on holidays either, don't drink, smoke, eat out - and I do a lot of the shopping in sales.

We also run a car, which I don't own but pay for regular MOT, service, tax and of course petrol. I have a 7yo and a 3yo.

I;m sorry, again, if it sounds odd but I'm just writing down what's puzzling me in a genuine way iyswim. You don't have to justify anything, of course, nobody should.

X posts again...I guess we all have different expenses, different needs.

Lily, just to say I was about to leap in and correct you on your definition of median. And then realised I was completely and utterly wrong

I think mode would be more useful - again assuming we could see the distributive curves and all that [pretending to know wtf I'm talking about emoticon]

Well I will as I dont think it has been fairly administered but how many of you have evven registered that the universal benefit may eman Carer's Allowance becomes means tested too? Won;t affect me but pretty horrid to those who ahve no option.

Ah well. Give up shouting.

It's pointless moaning about people on £44k + losing CB - it will fall on deaf ears. The focus must be:

a) the anomaly with single v joint incomes

b) why only CB is being targeted

My opinion is that it's OK to have an objective of removing benefits from households with a higher rate taxpayer - we might not agree but at least it's simple. But it should be ALL benefits, including JSA, winter fuel allowance, etc - why only CB? Why make it look like an attack on families with children?

Swedes
Tbh, I don't at present live in the UK and if we were to move to UK, we are likely to be over the threshhold anyway. We are lucky that DH has a good job that pays well, but it was not always so and we pretty much relied on the (German equivalent of) CB. So it is unlikely to ever affect me, but who knows what will happen in the next 5 or 10 years. It is the possibility of being in the position that many are going to be in that makes me protest.

Why should only those directly affected by these cuts protest?

Flight
I know that for someone on a lower income that an income of £45k can sound like a lot of money, but believe me when you gradually earn more, your cost of living increases too. We do not have a massive car or expensive holidays but there is no money left at the end of the month. Ok, I don't really have to budget strictly for food and rarely know if milk is on special offer in one supermarket, or cheaper elsewhere, but we are not living a champagne lifestyle.

We live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, so a lot of our outgoings are on food, childcare, activities for the DC. To give you an idea, weekly sport lessons here can be as high as £24.

can I ask a very stupid question - how are they going to assess our household income? Seeing as they don't at the moment - or do they? And is it any adult in the household or just the other parent?

Sancti I can't help but feel that the anomoly is a deliberate one - a smokescreen. We're all ranting and raving about this whilst other, equally unpleasant attacks on other benefits go (relatively) unremarked upon.

Perhaps I'm just an old conspiracy nut - although I've never really thought of myself as one.

All the while I wander in and out of threads ranting incoherently like an invisible, injured, left wing elephant. Or a Wookie.

Yes MmeL of course, we all do it, it's like when you move to a bigger house, you gradually fill it up with more stuff because it looks weirdly empty without.

It's just a question of having to downscale, which is really unpleasant but isn't going to stop people living comfortably - it's just difficult to do initially I think.

SMA
I had not heard that Carer's Allowance was to be included in the cuts. That will hit hard, and those who are most vulnerable too.

Weegle - I'm sorry to hear it. I don't think £45K is a huge sum of money and sufficient for a lavish lifestyle btw. Eeek at the large mortgage. What will you do when interest rates rise in the very near future?

I hadn't heard about carers allowance. That is really grim.

btw, our position is, we would have just scrapped into it, but dh has been made redundant recently.

I have tried to raise awareness of the CA thing.

Basically, DC or Gideon said that under the new Univedrsal credit carers will find it ewasier to take odd bits of work; that makes me think it is therefore included.

At the moment, carers get CA regardless of partner's income if they fulfil the criteria- its supposed to be compensation for work given I think (their own income IS counted). People on IS also get to have a bit more becuase it's not the same as doing nothing is it?

UC will be means tested and work agasint that.

But nobody would listen to me on threads

I am not going to be in either group BTW

I know that DLA means you won't be affected by benefit cap but it doesn't mean you will get benefits that have ceased to exist in the reshuffle,

IYSWIM?

I agree with you Jenai - its the other cuts that are going to be much worse. And that whole clearing the centre of cities of poor people thing is unbelievable.

They must be rubbing their hands that they are finally getting to do the social engineering they have always wanted using the deficit as an excuse.

And Labour have allowed them that opportunity.

Well maybe Omnoi but LD have hatdly barricaded it have they?

So we seem rather choice free

good :)

argh typed a long reply and the mumsnet crashed!

Basically I was saying flight don't apologise! I too sometimes struggle to understand how we are having to make sure I budget so tightly on food etc, and can't justify Christmas presents. I think in our case we have 3 huge curve balls: I became disabled by the pregnancy with DC1 so couldn't have returned to my previous job. Curve ball 2: our ages meaning when we got on the housing ladder (although I am grateful we are ON the ladder, she says with a bucket catching drips from the roof we can't afford to fix for a few months). Curve ball 3: unexpected twins - there's no doubting twins cost more that two singletons. And the biggest unexpected cost there was being forced to get a bigger car as we live in a tiny town with no school that I (disabled) can get to without a car and we couldn't fit 3 car seats in our old one. I know we are very fortunate, I have had several reasons to count our blessings of late, and know there's nothing to complain about, and certainly am not suggesting we are 'poor'. Just trying to paint a picture as to why that CB is necessary and in fact pays towards the nappies, and milk etc. And as I said before, cuts need to be made, and depsite wondering where I can budget harder next, I don't even in principal complain that it's directly hitting my family. It is the fairness I object to.

In all fairness DH pays a huge amount (one third of his take home pay) in to his pension. He's worked for the same company for 19 years and it's 1/3 or go in the other scheme which is nothing like as good. So that is a HUGE amount and I know makes us very fortunate for the future. Unfortunately doesn't help feed and clothe and put a roof over my children, now.

SMA
What is Universal Carer's doodah then, and why would it be easier for carers to work?

No I know sancti - am just a bit wildeyed with panic at it all - not to mention the dismantling of the NHS.

Sorry

It wpuldnt be easier for carers to work unless they ahve access to childcare (or elderly care etc)

Carers- OK

Universal Credit is the new benefit replaving all the not in work benefits and making one big entity encompassing JSA, IS, HB etc.

Carers (CA) is an allowance paid to anyone who has main care fo someone on middle or rate DLA, cares for them for more than (not sure of exact figure but over 30) hours a week, doesnt earn over £100 pw themselves or work over 18 hours.

Universal credit will be means tested by family income. Carers will therfore disappear, especoally for teh same people hit by CB cuts. It is worth £56 pw which for me with 2 children works out at 17p an hour nut helps. A lot.

Swedes fortunately we are on a fixed rate mortgage so at least know the figure for our monthly mortgage payment won't be changing for x amount of time.

MmeL - I'm not saying people shouldn't protest. I was just saying I hadn't come across anyone who was affected and unhappy. But now I've been introduced to Weegle, so I have come across one person. I also wanted to put my hand up to say, I'm affected and please don't protest on my behalf.

Thanks for the explanation, SMA. I had a look at the thread about the benefits cap but it had descended into the normal benefits bun fight by the time I looked. I stopped reading it at the "Bring back the workhouse" post. FFS.

omni wildeyed with panic says it all really. So much is going wrong. It's dizzying.