tax credits chat re cuts 2016

[SuMBODY]

namechanged .

as a family of 5, both me and dh work full time, 1 of the dcs is disabled so we receive the disabled and severely disabled element of tax credits, as well as a little extra as our wages aren't the best.
With the proposed changes to tax credits, we are set to lose approx £70 a week, now this may not seem a lot to some, but having a child with extra needs, this money is a huge relief to us and helps us immensely.
Now the thought of losing it means some serious cutbacks to my family , overtime is not an option at present for me or dh because I have only recently gotten my 20 hour contract upped to a 30 after 9 year !
It is an extremely worrying and stressful time for my family, and I imagine others are feeling it too.
it is awful that the cuts are mainly being targeted at those who work, yes the benefit cap is being lowered for those that don't work, but that's another thread.
I keep seeing articles online and in newspapers that estimates families will be up to £1200 worse off a year, when infact we will be nearly £3000 worse off.
As long as David Cameron and George Osbourne are sitting pretty after claiming their petty expenses is all that matters I suppose
They dont see how it is affecting everyone as individuals :(
just thought id start a post incase anyone wants to discuss.

Im very worried. From what i can gather as a single parent with 2 dc working 20 hours a week im going to be 40/50 worse of a week.

Alfie by no means am i implying that all people on benefits are raking it in. This is just 1 example.
Also we are in band A propertys and yes the council tax would be lowered to less tha n £2.
envying a disabled child is wrong. I have a disabled child myself with very complex needs.

the whole point of my figures above was to show that we are no better of working at all. Earlier in the year mr c delivered a speech and claimed 'make work pay' , this is clearly not the case!!

Also katherine i dont know which part of the country you are in. But up north there are PLENTY of people claiming sick for depression and anxiety, its just these people know how to 'play' the system.

Just want to make it clear we would NEVER quit work to claim benefits no matter how appealing it is, i want to set a good example to our dcs.

I can't deny that I am really worried about the tax credits cuts. I work 30 hours and DH works 40+. I've just done the calculator and we are set to lose £70 pw. I've just had a small payrise at work, but it is going to go nowhere near in making up the shortfall.

Admittedly eldest DC will be off to uni in September '16 and I'd accounted for the fact that we'd be losing her CB and TC, but even then, I reckon we'll still be £200 per month worse off. I fucking hate the Tories.

I was planning on working full time come April - lucky to have a job where this is an option and we are fortunate enough to live in a housing association property with manageable rent. But if the new rules on paying a higher rent if you earn over £30k come in then we'll be about another £3.5k a year worse off. So there really is no point in working more as it will make bugger all difference. No reward for hard work then is there Cameron and Osborne, despite what your propaganda says?

Hard for people losing a lot in tax credits & CB when kids go to Uni, although it is expected. Also hard that they many kids from low income families will be losing the maintainence grant from next Sept as well , meaning parents will possibly need to help more with supporting kids through Uni, unless the kids can gain part time jobs to help themselves.

Nommi, the changes aren't until April so plenty of time to up your hours or find something around the first job. Twenty hours can't support one person let alone three.

Cookie, surely that may not be easy for a lone parent though, depending on the ages of the children and available childcare. I have a few friends who have kids in their teens and still do just the 16 hour minimum !!

Sorry Sumbody I missed the meaning of your post. *

I* went back to work last year and I agree that with these changes the people most hit are people like you and I who want to do the right thing.

In fact my son had a terrible year once he went to Y7 and coupled with that I had a TIA.

I ended up having to leave my job .

DS is now in a special school and settling well. I'd like to go back to work but life is already a struggle financially. I don't want it to be worse because I am trying to do the right thing. In fact I think "f*k you Gideon I will remain out of work now until DS leaves school".

Deep down though that isn't what I want. I just need to earn enough not to require tax credits (not going to be difficult it seems) and enough to pay the rent, council tax, gas, electric etc.

My jobcentre adviser has suggested voluntary work and not to look for work yet.
Phoned Homestart last week and Banardos who run the Children's Centre.

..and no idea where that bold text came from!

Alfiel - Surely being out of paid work for 5 or 6 years though is going to significantly decrease your chances or getting a decent paid job even with voluntary work experience? Obviously depends what your previous work xperinece is and how easy it is to resume your career.

Agree babyroobs which is why deep down its not really what I want.

I have the complication of raising DS single handed and he has complex needs. My last job needed to end partly because I was being called so often to the school and my employer was getting impatient about it all.

I no longer have that thankfully as DS is now in a special school.

However life is already a struggle financially which makes an already stressful life worse. The last thing I want to do is add to that stress as it impacts on me and DS.

Voluntary work seems a good stop gap initially while I work out what I will do long term. Am a qualified nurse, midwife and health visitor but I left those behind as DS doesn't sleep and I didn't feel safe to practice. He still doesn't sleep...,

I've no doubt that at some point in the next year or so I will go back to work.

My "f**k you Gideon" is more a personal angry retaliation against a Govt who are doing their best to plunge thousands of people into poverty. It's not to be taken seriously though.

sumbody do you really believe that someone who is caring full time for their disabled child is a " bad example" .
Choosing not to work in order to claim benefits is a bad example if
A) there a jobs available
B) you are healthy
C) your child is healthy
D) you are not a single parent and your child is school age ( with adequate affordable childcare)

Some people use their tax credits literally to put food on the table and heat their hmes, some use them for days out or holidays.

And there is a way of working out how to decrease benefits for the latter and increasing them for the former. But the Bastard Tories don't want to do this. They want to punish all low-paid people because they are apparently lazy and not like the Chinese. And all lone-parents because we are obviously scum.

Yep, up North too SuMBODY. The people you know are very clever then, as I only know one person who was able to claim under those circumstances. And he is a campaigner with a disability rights group so knows his stuff - I can see he is playing the system and think he should be in work - but every other person I know in these circumstances who are actually very ill have to go into the punishment JSA system.

Also, SuMBODY I would hazard a guess that your friend is somebody up to her neck in credit/debt. Benefits don't really pay for that kind of thing, or the holidays Babyroobs keeps banging on about. Other things are going on as well. Perhaps the child maintenance payments Babyroobs keeps banging on about, despite the majority of single parents getting nothing, and the others getting derisory amounts.

God some people on these threads are so bloody rude. I have aknowledged that many lone parents get no maintainence, but the ones I know get a decent amount. I've no reason to bloody lie about it !!

andnow I have not used the words bad example, however there ARE jobs, said friend and her dh ARE fit and healthy, all of their Dcs ARE in school, they tick all of the boxes.. Their disabled dc goes to school.
Her dh has been offered various jobs on temp contracts, but always refuses them .
He doesn't have to sign on as she rang the jobcentre to ask if she could be main claimant as he keeps leaving her after arguing with no money, (he dissapears for 2-3 days every so often, normally coincides with the day they get paid
They are quick to tell people they are better off on benefits and are not ashamed of the fact.

It could be seen as 'bloody rude' that on threads where people are incredibly stressed about losing a LOT of money in proportion to their wage, somebody always turns up and bangs on about all the people she knows who get huge amounts of child maintenance and use all their tax credits on trips to the moon every 3 months.

sumbody I am not meaning your friend I mean yourself. Why do you think you working is a good example to your dc. It really isn't.Under your family circumstances you are neither being a good example nor a bad one by working.

Although in regards to your friend , I have two disabled dc . They go to school however I would be sacked within the month if I worked due to their numerous hospital appointments and days of unwell.

In theory I could work now that DS is in special school. However it doesn't change the fact he doesn't sleep and I am always tired as a result. When he is at school that's my time to catch up on sleep, sort out appointments and get housework done which is not easy with him around.

It's easy to say that once a disabled child is at school the parent could work. There's many reasons why they might not be able to.

Obviously I am on my own though...I would anticipate in a relationship that at least one adult would be working.

Then again I don't know as I am not in that position.

Nor do I get generous maintenance from my ex. He gave me just £60 in Sept at a time when I had to buy all new school uniform. Couldn't have done it without my parents.

andnow sorry I interpreted that wrong. I don't want my dcs growing up thinking it's ok not to work, because it is not without a very valid reason.
Depending on the nature of disability, then yes staying at home to look after your children is valid, however there are term time jobs, jobs within school hours and if your child has a disability, then you have rights at work to take time off, I have done so myself.

I don't think I'm getting my point across clearly , thepoint of this thread was the tax credits cuts are affecting the wrong people entirely.
Me giving an example of friend was to say she is not being affected and gets clearly too much money ,
I hope David Cameron is a lurker on here and performs a mumsnet search on his name and comes across this thread!!!

I'm sorry I'm not commenting re child maintenance but I haven't got a clue about that.

As far as debt goes for said friend katherine she does have debt which she doesn't pay, infact she is talking about going bankrupt.
Also said persons stepdad is 'one of those very clever people' he can't work due to mental health issues (he has been heard bragging about -his words 'acting thick' at the assessments) he sits and stays silent and rocks backwards and forth (I'm not joking ! ) he drives about in his mobility car, goes fishing, and even does woodwork causes provided by the council and gets a mileage allowance of £21 a week, he has also been heard saying 'he can't wait to get his wage' (£21 a week)
He is not depressed nor does he have any other illness, he just knows how to play the system well

He might be very depressed if he wasn't getting that help. Probably cheaper for him to be alive than dead.

You need to report said persons step dad then.

Motobility cars are for those who struggle to walk generally. If he has a motobility vehicle and you have evidence he is committing fraud you should be reporting it and not complaining on here and risking everyone who has one being tarred with the same brush.

I hope Shiny Dave lurks in here too. I can then point out that he (rightfully) claimed DLA for his son. He is also supporting all the stuff about people on benefits only getting what they need. What was that Dave? You claimed in Ivan's name? Yeah but you didn't NEED to claim did you? Double standards there.

I agree sumbody, I know a girl who has recently told the tax credits that her partner now lives with her, yet he's been living there for 5 years but telling tax credits he still lives with his mum, so she has been claiming as a single parent and getting benefits accordingly, now she has told the benefits people that her partner has moved in she told me she has lost £900 a month!!!

people like these are the reason people like us who are honest are getting our tax credits cut to the bone