cuts - Wednesday's Spending Review

[mrsbaldwin]

Brace yourself ladies - these cuts are big, there will be tens of thousands of public sector redundancies and it's said (by the Fawcett Society amongst others) that they will disproportionately affect women.

Some workers will get some sort of payoff, and some will be pleased to go. Some will find new jobs.

But I reckon the overall effect (licks finger and holds it in the wind) will be to drive down women's wages, meaning that once you are made redundant from your public sector post you may find more work but it will be at a lower rate and the extra competition for jobs across the board will drive wages down across the board. This may be true for men as well but I think it will affect women - mums - more.

If you are watching the press coverage on Weds, what do you think the effects of the cuts and the job losses for women (and mums) will be?

The richest in the country already pay a very large proportion of tax and if we keep on raising taxes on the wealthiest then you will see a brain drain and will reduce aspiration.

It's not just about taxing rich individuals more. It should be about a small increase in taxes on companies. A small percentage increase in the taxes on companies would bring in lots of money. The levy on the banks will bring in a few billion. In an emergency like this, a small levy could be levied on all of industry. They could even make an agreeement to impose the levy across Europe.

I bet the vast majority of wealthy people have degrees from russel group universities

Talking about reducing aspiration - where is the aspiration for the working poor to achieve anything if they are constantly hit by obstacles and hurdles. If you don't have capital, you cant invest it into employing childcare, buying a car to travel to work etc, and public transport isn't feasible in all parts of the country.

Its not aspiration if you think the Government should be subsidising you

'Alot have worked extremely hard for there money and shouldn't be discriminated against.

' I have a degree and a post grad qualification. Both of which I worked extremely ahrd for, having DH sat outside with a 5 week old baby during finals, whilst I mamnaged an A despite leaking boobs and tiredness.

Worked harder? Tried harder? Keep talking, you might convince yourself.

Obviously it is dependent on what you decide to do Riv and academic research is largely poorly paid but I still maintain that people who earn higher incomes are intelligent and the most talented people in the country who we can ill afford to lose.

I have degrees from two Russell Group Universities. Both in English Language and Lit. Currently work as an educational administrator. Wanted to teach at Uni/College but the funding is not there for people at the moment. Have tried in vain to find a Phd place or any job in a related area. Russell Group education does not mean rich. You need the connections as well. I went as a mature student working 30 hours a week. There were many students from highly privileged backgrounds who did not need to work and who cruised through their degrees. Working hard does not always lead to wealth.

Rich does not equal successful.

I think wealth is probably the biggest factor in defining success although not the only

baildonwen - and that is exactly what is wrong with society today

Why is it wrong to want to be wealthy and to be able to have a high standard of living?

Surely bail the aspiration is for the Government not to support you?

If I want to work I have to get a Nanny; no local nursery would (rightly) touch aggressive ds1, a local CM would have ds3 like a shot but that was ruled out because the SNU transport drops off when every CM is on a school run; logistically impossible. He's been dropped outside the school for a while (so I can collect also disabled ds1) but the police have decided that blocks the road and have banned it; he's dropped off atm in the private parking lot for some flats but the residents are starting to curtain twitch. Sometimes if there is traffic I am stood waiting 30 minutes; no CM will do that. Next eyar there may well be two transports delviering two of my children from 10 miles in each opposite direction- that should be fun.

The aim is absolutely to be compeltely independent: as we were before. We have a plan, too: when DH qualifies he will put 2 intensive eyars into his business whilst doing childcare so I can do my social work conversion; we will then work around each other but whilst most kids get to an age where childcare is no longer needed, ds3 will certainly always need some provision, and ds1 will for teh foreseeable future too. they are ten and 7, not babies, but they both need total supervision. SW will pay enopugh for me to work and provide a Nanny and maybe even a few pennies over. The childcare that others get is all we have available to us, and it strops when everybody elses does too.

The choices we seem to have are to follow this plan and be dependent for 4 years, or give up and be dependent for life. But to save the state £ long term we need them now.

Now, all you who belive there's no difference between being a carer and mothering an NT child: fancy lifelong childcare fees? Don;t think social services help- not a bit of it. A friend with an incredibly depndent child who is blind, has ASD, and GDD was recently told post 16 supporr only available for parents who are terminally / severely ill, or whose children were at risk of neglect.

I donp;t define wealth as success
I define that s independence and happiness; pre ds3's dx I defined myself as happy, that seemed very rare indeed- so much so one philosophy lecturer used to try and argue me out of it weekly.

What is wrong is when whether you are a "successful person" is defined by the amount that you earn. Greed is ugly in all of its forms and it is becoming more prevalent. Quality of life does not rely on a massive house/car and working 50+ hours a week.

shiny people on higher incomes tend to have higher standards of living and quality of life, this is shown by stat such as higher life expectancy etc. I still don't see what is wrong with that.

The cuts are to take away the mobility allowances for people with disabilities living in residential care. My daughter uses her car driven by me to get around the local community and to have some quality of life. Her moility allowance pays for this. I want to shout from the rooftops how UNFAIR this is.
All you young mums will discover in time that your children will have a major impact on your whole lives.They never stop being your children.
I never thought that I would still be caring and supporting mine at this stage of my life.
The mother tigress instinct never fails.
PLEASE help me to shout out objections to these cuts. I will certainly shout for you.

What is wrong is the greed that is so prevalent in society today. Having a better car/plasma TV/massive house may make you happier in the short term, but not long term.
Your assertion that people who earn higher incomes are intelligent is utter crap IMO. Yes there are some who have worked their collective arses off in their career/job and deserve the wage. In every company I work for however, they have promoted the ineffectal or complete bullies to highly-paid management positions. This is in addition to people who have completed MBAs who come out with utter shite like "going forward" and "pushing the envelope" etc.

In the old days MN wasvery supportive towards carers, I think all that has chnaged is a climate of fear.

If ambtious Sancti and her Dh could get this- yes OK one disabled child, but then another, then ds2 is picked up as sen, then just as she goes off to do her PGCE the Dh gets redundancy (was a night job, planned to work around each other using a modular PGCE)....

well unless you are exceptionally well off (and I do mean ece[tionally, try costing SN and you will see what I mean) then you are just as at risk as us. There is nodiffernce between you and I except luck and maybe some dodgy genes we didn't know about until ds1 was 6.

Riv how much you earn is dependent on how many hours you work and how much the market values those hours