Child Poverty. With our benefits system ie. Housing, council tax, income support, child benefit. Is there any need for a child in the UK to be suffering from this?

[Bubble99]

Discuss.

Can't you claim the tax credits and keep the money in a savings account for your dcs? That way if you do need to pay the money back it is there. If you don't it will gather interest and come in useful when they need it.

Yes, tens of thousands of working poor to 'give back' what they 'owe'. Whilst corporate robber barons can afford to pay accountants to get them off and Bono Mr. Give to the Poor seems to take pride in being a tax dodger.

LOL, Upwind.

You claim tax credits because you need them to survive, not to top up your savings.

You claim them, and get DOZENS - literally - of award notices, all with amounts varying by just a few pounds, so you don't really know what your true entitlement should be.

Then, 3 or 4 years later, you get a demand notice for thousands of pounds you're supposed to have lying around, saved up from your min. wage job.

THAT is what happens, not big payouts you set in a bank.

It is disgraceful the way the whole tax credits thing was handled and implemented. Why didn't heads roll?

Expat - Bono is Irish, and musicians don't pay tax there. That is not avoidance as such!

Because it's Gordon Brown's baby and Gordon Brown is the PM, Upwind, that's why the 'system' continues as it does.

I ran this through Entitledto

Say you earn minimum wage, and you are the only worker in the family of 2 adults, 2 kids, both over 1 asnd under 16, then after rent of £70 pw and Council Tax of £900 pa

Then after rent and council tax have been paid, you will have £233 per week. YOu'll get free prescriptions but I don't know about free school dinners.

If you are single and on benefits, you will get £170 per week. You will get free prescriptions and school dinners.

that rent assumes you live in a council property.

I live in a fairly poor town and as far as I'm aware there is no surestart here!

I was told by someone from IR recently that tax credits have changed and unless you earn something like £50k more than you estimated you will not have to pay anything back.

It has to be considered that GB got the system exactly how he wants it. Tax credits are effectively repayments of tax already collected. Rather than not claim teh tax in the first place, there is asystem so mad and complicated that many people don't claim. Thus the Treasury gets richer and the 'hardworking poor' GB is always on about get poorer.

Exactly, star. And does he honestly believe the masses are too stupid not to see that?

Well I have also put it in as paying 140 per week rent and 1200 pa council tax

and because of council tax benefit and housing benefit, the income for a couple with one worker on the minimum wage was at £240 after council tax benefit and housing benefit.

sorry after paying council tax and rent, that was meant to say

Well, see, there's another person there - using electricity and water and eating.

pesha, I work in charity sector and we have asked for Surestart and been told no for the reasons I mentioned below...tis a good scheme and every town should have one, I think.

Yes. Not saying all people ARE better off working - but I know I am worse off on benefits than I was with exp living here, earing little more than minimum wage.

(this is why I am looking for work BTW!)

We have less than the poverty line after housing costs per week, and DP and I both work!

We had to pay 300 quid to get the car through it's MOT recently, which totally fucked us up for the following 6 weeks.

However, I would not say we live in poverty. Yes we struggle, but we can just about get by day to day.

I meant to add to my last point that we wouldn't have to struggle qyite so much if these so called benefits were means tested, ie they took into account our humungous amount of rent and c tax that we pay for a shithouse ex council 2 up 2 down we wold probably recieve more than 10 quid per week in tax credits.

Oooh, bit more from me.

I don;t thi9nk for one minute that me and my fmaily should be feliant on the state, but if it was made easier (and more worthwhile) to go back to work, then I would. I can't afford to stay at home, but neither can I afford to go to work, when I have to pay £8ph+ to get my children looked after.

That's it, too, walrus. No system at present takes into consideration cost of living in the area where the family is - or what their rent is.

We live in Bath.

We could move to somewhere cheaper, but why should we? It's my home, I love it. My children were born here. DP works here.

Also if everyone did the same, it would make cheaper areas more expensive etc etc etc.

expat when I put into the calculator that rent was £70 per week, no housintg benefit was given, but when I put in that rent was £140 per week, £70 housing benefit was given. It's means tested on the rate of tax credits given but also on the rent itself.

You have to give your tax credit award notice to your council when you apply for housintg benefit.

Filthy - I keep hearing great things about surestart but as far as I can tell its not here. And I live about 30 seconds away from what is apparently the most deprived area in South Somerset.

Thing is, with websites like Entitledto, is that it's an estimate. And because the TC system is so complicated, there's no way of finding out what a person's final award will be.

Accord ing to entitled to, we are being overpaid tax credits.