Anyone not using their child benefit yet?

[arabicabean]

Hi,

I'am a first time mum and have recently started receiving child benefit. I was interested in whether others were using theirs? Mine is paid into a new account I opened and its kind of exciting getting the monthly statements. Are you using yours yet or just watching it accumulate?

So it cant be paid directly to a child then. The rules have not changed.

Not as far as I know, Bluefox.

I have just seen a thread where someone is asking where people are off on their holidays , haven't seen anyone posting on there yet ' how dare you ask about holidays when some people can't afford one ! How insenstive !

Just shows how two faced MN can be at times !

Well, I think if the OP had said,'I'm fortunate enough not to need my CB for everyday living can anyone recommend something practical to do with it' the response would have been different.

In anyone's book it is crass to say is £18 really that significant or words to that effect.

Do you really think so ?

It is like a pack mentally sometimes on MN , one goes in then another then another .... ready for the kill until the OP limps off quielty into a corner . Not just this thread but others in the past , no I am not going to start recalling certain threads but I have been on MN for a number of years under one name or another and have seen it soooo many times .

Off to bed too now

I made the mistake of saying to my dh once that I thought it was unethical for so many people to claim child benefit and the state pension when they had no financial need for them (they have the highest take up of any benefit - I think CB is taken up by 90% of those eligible). The result was that when we had children we didn't (and have never) claimed CB. We both work (well usually) and have a decent income, so we don't need it. But looking back at how much money we have declined I am a bit shocked. It could have made a big difference. But I still think it is a bit unethical to claim benefits that you really don't need.

I can see what you are saying Nooka , but when you have paid your tax and Ni since the age of 18 , never claimed any benefit , but of course used the NHS and education system , this is one thing that I am entitled to claim.

I may not be using it everyday but it has come in very handy to subsidise my childs health care and hopefully their further education.

When alot of us get nothing from the governmnet but alot taken away , just earn a little bit too much for any finincial assiatnce to help pay for example childcare etc then I'm afraid ethics goes out the window.

If your money was going to be put asidde into a specail fund to help other children I would say 'good for you' but its not .

I think the problem lies in the name. By calling it a benefit, lots of people associate it with payments for people who are struggling and maybe go all proud about it, whereas actually the whole point of the welfare state is that you pay into it all your life, and when you need it, the welfare state gives you some back. More like a savings account, but a socialist one (well, in theory, anyway....)

And the state acknowledges that having children is an expensive undertaking so it's one of the conditions where you get some of your money back again. But it is your money, iyswim.

In Scandi countries where taxes are much higher, you don't see people turning down the subsidised childcare and long maternity leave that their money pays for.

Personally I'm glad CB isn't means tested but given to every child regardless of need. And if you're lucky enough not to need it at all, why not give it to a children's charity rather than leaving it in the govt coffers? At least then you know it's helping children in need rather than paying for ID cards or another balls up at MI6.

I don't think it should be means tested. We need that money and use it to buy food but if it was to become means tested we probably wouldn't even qualify for it. Cost of living as become so high that lots of people on fairly decent salaries are struggling to pay the bills and keep roofs over their heads.

Circumstances change and you never know when you might need it, when I was pregnant with ds I assumed that I would put the money into a ISA and yet now I couldn't cope without it. If you don't need the money, save it, you never know you might be really grateful of it over the coming years.

Save 1/2 into a CTF and 1/2 into a high savings account.

i thought the original idea of child benefit was to ensure that th ekids had food in their bellies, even if ddad pissed it al l away down the pub?
and it is available to all kids because all kids are considered equal?

oh, it's time for me to get out my pet theory - I think child benefit should be substantially increased, to about £125 (the equivalent of a minimum wage schoolhours job) per week for every parent with a child under 5. Then it could be used to allow mothers to SAHM with pre-schoolers, or subsidise childcare. And I would have no problem with higher rate tax being raised to pay for this - I do think the income tax system should be re-distributive over a persons lifetime - so you are taxed significantly more as a childless person, in order to receive more as a family with young children.

And Captain, I do think that if the original question had been phrased better eg: I am fortunate enough not to need my CB for day to day living, what should I do with it? then the op would have got a better response and wouldn't have attracted attention from those (who I admit exist on Mumsnet) who get annoyed with anyone who has money on principle.

sounds good pru

stitch, I think CB was pretty revolutionary when it arrived, as a non-means tested bit of cash, often the only money the woman had any control over herself

I used to think that it was a balance, what I paid in NI I used to get back in child benefit. I used to use ours to fund start-rites, and watch it mount up in the Post Office account (rural PO needed the business) so I could buy ds decent shoes for school. We are fortunate that we don't rely on it, but as I am now a SAHM abroad, I still claim UK child benefit rather than the Belgian one (which pays more) as I'd rather get my HRP (explained earlier on the thread) credited to my pension. What is not now realised is that the rules have changed, and HRP won't be paid/credited once your child has reached 14, so I'll have to start making payments to bring my pension contributions up to the limit.

Before I'm flamed, I'm abroad with the UK Armed Forces, so even if I did work here, any NI equivalent I paid would go into the Belgian system, and not be credited to the UK. Yes, I do access the Belgian hospital system, but that is paid back to the Belgian authorities by the MOD, and no, I don't use the Belgian education system.

Pru - what happens if you remain a childless person all your life? Should you effectively subsidise other peoples' choices? Agreed, it would be great to give mums of under 5s more child benefit (family allowance my Mum used to call it) but some will get sick of paying in and never getting back. If the govt got rid of some of their quangos, then they could afford to do it perhaps.

it's all about disposable income. Please don't means test it as after two divorces between us, yes, Dh earns a lot but then pays the humongous mortgage, council tax, debt etc and we need the cb for food. Not everyone earning a lot can afford to save/go on holiday/ whatever.

Hello scaryteacher - re your point "should you effectively subsidise other peoples' choices?" the two arguments here would be:

1. There are lots of things that tax goes towards that you may not personally benefit from eg road building if you don't have a car, the education system if you don't have a child, public transport if you don't use it etc etc

1. I think that people without children would hopefully not be too bitter about giving some tax to those with children - especially if that means that those children are a bit further away from the poverty line or it allows mums to stay at home and look after their preschool children themselves if they so wish (like your theory Prufrock)

Well I save ours (2 lots of it) up, and when I have about £200 of it, I go shopping and buy jewellery, or clothes for me and dp with it. SERIOUSLY!!!

Or maybe NOT!
I wish we even had ebough money to pay our mortgage, but we dont.

Its CHILD benefit, for children! Its meant for their clothes, bills, food, nappies etc

I don't know if people without children would be that happy with Prufrock's plan - I've had plenty of the 'I'm subsidising your children' comments from childfree people (also got told off for saying 'childless' instead of 'childfree' ).

I got tired of pointing out that I was subsidising their healthcare (heavy smokers, some of them), their roads (we don't have a car), and that by staying at home I was liberating a job for a childfree person to earn.

Besides, the Daily Mail would have a field day on single mothers, as if they need any more encouragement.....

Prufrock ? That?s a very interesting theory. What do you think the new higher rate tax rate needs to be to provide this? Should it be a flat rate per child or an amount that increases with each child to reflect larger family costs? Could there be a risk of entrepreneurial talent leaving the country, hence less tax revenue for the government? I shall probably be castigated for asking.

I save dd's in a CTF.

There's defiantly a risk of talent fleeing if you raise the tax rate too high (though in our case dh wouldn't flee, but would probably move to 6 months consulting/6 months off earlier and continue for longer rather than retiring completely sooner). But I doubt you'd have to raise it that much to finance an extra £100 per week.

And why shouldn't child free people pay for people to have children - those children's taxes are going to be paying their state pension in the future.

And since when was fiscal policy decided by the Daily Mail........

Hmm 222 messages, has this kicked off by any chance? (will read thread now)

Have skimmed the bottom of the thread now and don't tihnk the OP deserved the kicking she got. I don't tihnk £18 a week is much either. We honestly wouldn't notice if we didn't get child benefit.

Plenty of people use it towards living and others save it or let it build up for their child. At one point I had over £5k in child benefit saved for ds because I'd let it accumulate in an account in his name. But I assume it's heresy to say so on this thread.

My answer to childfree people subsidising families with children is that we are bringing up the next generation and that is what keeps society is all about. Our children will pay taxes to provide for pensions etc.

If everyone decided not to procreate (or couldn't have children) everything would grind to a halt.

Bringing up children is not always fun but it has to be done and the government needs to invest in them as much as possible to create a viable future.