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?

here

but don;t get excited by chidlren's clothes- they end at a surprisngly low age (ds1 is out of chidlren's shoes now by VAT satndards)

Well with respect popelle, I disagree.

AFAIK, although the top rate of 50% is a few percentage points higher than most (not all) of our EU neighbours, it does kick in at a significantly higher level of income.

As for the the laffer curve, even those who support theory recognise is only an ever an estimate and it is not without controversy.

Hallow, don't be obtuse please. Whilst VAT might not apply to food and children's clothing, the costs associated with producing and distributing these items are subject to VAT. Those additional costs are passed onto the consumer, big business certainly does absorb them from some sense of charity.