This Government seems to have no sense. No brains. And have a serious case of 'speak, decide, announce' before every the brain is got out of the jar on the shelf.
On another thread it got round to Child benefit. And this illustration occurred to me. A perfect example of 'joined up thinking'.
Imagine a street, lined with houses. In the first house, House A lives a couple. They have four children. One of the parents goes out to work, and earns a salary of about £42.5k. After tax, this amounts to about £30k. Under the budget cuts they lose child benefit of £3k per year. So they have about £30k to spend per year, because they are deemed 'too wealthy' to receive child benefit.
The next house, House B houses another couple. Neither parent works, and they instead rely on benefits. They qualify for the maximum benefit payout and receive £26k. Under IDS' new proposal today, child benefit is paid on top. As they have 4 children, this gives them a further £3k, giving them a total disposable income of £29k, only £1k less than House A, which is deemed 'too wealthy' to keep their child benefit.
In the next house, House C lives another couple. They both work full time, and both have a salary of about £41k, giving a gross income of £82k. After tax this is a household disposable income of £60.4k. They also have four children, and because neither parent is a HRT payer, they also get £3k in child benefit, so their disposable income is £63.4k, over double the house that lost their child benefit for being 'too wealthy', and yet they retain it. This helps them cover childcare fees.
In the final house, House D, a single mother lives with her 4 children. She works full time, and has no income from the children's father. 2 of the children are in school, and go to after school club, 2 of the children are in full time nursery, incurring huge fees. She earns about £42k, giving a net household income of about £30k, the same as House A, and very similar to house B. However she loses her Child Benefit, because she is 'too wealthy'.
4 houses, 4 situations, is the child benefit paid to cover need, or is it just an arbitrary hand out given to some and not to others? Round the corner lives a family with a disabled child. The mum did have a career, but now stays at home as a carer. Her husband has a salary that just tips them into the HRT, so they lose their CB.
Where is the joined up thinking?