im so anxious about threats to cut ctc...

[em83]

god i feel so depressed about the threatened cut to ctc, i have been following the news religiously about this new emergency budget, and have just read an updat which was posted tonigha 22.10 which states that incomes £30.000 or over will not be entitled to ctc

im so pissed off with this and feel so anxious

It's okay for the state to pay for childcare, should both parents choose to work, but they should be financially penalised if one of them chooses to do the childrearing themselves?

wubbly - I guess because for most people they pay more in tax than they get back so the state is still in profit for people going out to work. And work creates jobs for others in childcare. Not saying it is right, but true. For example if we get £400 ish a month towards childcare but pay £800 ish in tax they are still getting a profit from us and that money goes towards funding a nursery job or whatever.

hornofplenty but that is so contextual. 45k = perhaps £2300 a month after tax and deductions such as student loan?

Minus childcare for two at £1300. minus mortgage/rent and council tax at £800 and you have £200 left.

But peppa wherever you set the limit it is not going to suit someone.

Maybe the answer is you have one child, as I said it was what I did. Or you only have one child in childcare at a time - this is what many of my colleagues did.

Wubbly I was thinking that the cost of two people living together is not proportionally more than a single person. But if that is not right ( I am not an economist) then make it an equal £25K and 50K.

With regards to SAHM I would love to have money to pay SAHM but it is not there. At least two parents working are paying taxes.

We get the basic rate of CTC, we also get CCVouchers. DH earns approx average wage, and I earn very slightly more than my childcare costs. If it were not for the CCV's it probably wouldn;t be worth me working (although I obv need to also take into account the added bonuses such as pension, career progression etc).

What is driving me mad is the uncertainty of everything. I have no idea what will be happening with these benefits, and on top of this both DH's and my employers are talking about 9 day fortnights and pay cuts.

How are people meant to make decisions about work, being a SAHM, finances etc with no information about what the future holds. It's a depressing time, that's for sure!

WUbblybubbly. Why is it fair to financially penalise a couple if one of them decides to stay at home to rear the children?
IMO you should be able to have a SAHM or SAHD and survive on one parents wage. Children do better if looked sfter by mum or dad. I know some of you have kids in nurseries and they are doing fine but do you not feel the heartache of not seeing them for more then a few hours or so a day?

Hornofplenty dioes everyone not pay taxes whenthey buy things? VAT at 20% will take a chunk out of everybodies wallet

I don't know enough about childcare to be honest to know at what point people need help. We have just accepted that more than one child is beyond our financial reach. But the 10 a week should be cut back to the bone.

peppa that is a very good point and quite possibly explains the thinking behind the policy.

I personally chose to stay at home to raise my one DS after waiting almost 20 years to have him, oh and being made redundant at 5 months pregnant. When he starts school, health permitting, I'll no doubt return to work part time.

I paid plenty of taxes during my career, I didn't whinge about it, it was my duty.

We get nowt now, except the £40 CTC that we'll lose, I'm not whinging about it.

I simply think it is grossly unfair that, once again, the tories are hitting hardest those who can least afford it.

My point way back on page 2 was that whilst some people might be marginally - and ime it is usually marginal - better off on benefits there are many benefits to work. I know in not all jobs you are going to get payrises etc but long term, over your working life, most people would be better off working than being on benefits.

Also, I am well aware that a higher minimum wage would drive business away from the UK, my ideological point was more that something has to give. Either salaries are too low or living costs are too high, in actual fact it's probably a mix of both. The government stopping subsidies may help regain some kind of equilibrium but I sincerely doubt it. Capitalism is just shit.

But they are not hitting those who can least afford it, there are many people who have a household income under 25K - we did for many years. They are the people who can least afford it.

I don't know what the truth is but I would like to mention the fact that the Daily Torygraph had a front page on Tuesday (I think) screaming that public sector pensions cost us each £4000 a year. On More or Less today (which is a programme on Radio 4 which delves into the truth about numbers and statistics) they said that actually the figure is actually under £400 a year.

Apparently the DT have published a correction on their website but so much other media picked the story up that I suspect it's become popular 'truth'.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was similar.

And I do think some people don't really need WTC. I applied when I was on maternity leave as I really needed it but the following year I got a very generous amount because my pay had been so low the previous year and it's based on prior year's income. That's what's crazy about it.

hornofplenty, I'm sorry but I'm not getting your point at all.

Of course people earning under £24k are poor, but they'll continue to get help. Those earning £25k cannot possibly be rich in comparison, but they'll get nothing?

In fact, if TWFU is correct, those people with one child earning £24,001 with lose exactly the same amount as those earning £50k! Who do you think will be hardest hit by losing that £40 a month?

But cuts need to be made, I don't want them made to people on benefits.

I accept that people on 24,001 may need some help with childcare ( but I still think people need to ask themselves can I actually afford this child) but if they have no childcare costs they do not need the basic £10 a week.

LadyBiscuit - the Media don't like the truth to get in the way of a good story! And the Public Sector are the whipping boys of the moment. Have you not heard that it's us public sector workers who are the problem - and there's me thinking the Banks actually had something to do with it .

Yes it is all the fault of firemen, teachers, nurses and policemen this recession, just look at the front page of the daily mail.

undercovermutha - did you hear that boardroom salaries have quietly gone up 22% on average over the past year? No, thought not Fucking distorted print media in this country

Did you not know publc sector workers are bathing in money while everyone else starves. Think Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns

And of course there is absolutely no other option but to cut the CTC to some of the poorest in our society?

We couldn't possibly consider raising income tax by a few pence?

Or scrapping Trident?

Or putting up Employers' NI?

Or redirect the £50m 'Free' Schools budget?

Just off the top of my head like.

Wubbly I think we will need to do all of that and cut tax credits and cap or cut public sector pay.

Daily Mail

But people are buying it undercova, I had to phone a parent today and they ranted something along the lines of "I can't make my child do their maths homework because I don;t have a gold plated pension like you"

One of my colleagues said to me today that she didn't think it was fair that we have good pensions, when others don't, and she thought the government should stop all final salary pensions to make it fair for everyone.

I'm using a lot of 's at the moment!

I think CTCs and CB should have been cut/scapped years ago, irrespective of the economic climate. I object to the manifest waste of money, naturally...but it is the message it sends out that is most offensive.

How can it be right for middle-class people to make considered decisions to put off having children until they can properly afford it whilst the "poor" crack on regardless?

The idea of starting up a family courtesy of the taxpayer is little better than abuse, to my mind.

I am a good teacher, good maths teachers seem to be a rarity - we are an odd bunch. Increasing workload has been making me think about doing something else. Take my pension and it will be the last straw, many of my colleagues have said the same.

I teach in an outstanding school, we are packed with teachers who are considering moving into the independent sector, ( it is where most teachers go when they leave our school) or they have left the independent sector to come to us, partly because of pensions. I think there will be a lot of very good teachers seeking to leave teaching or moving into the independent sector.

I think a winter of discontent is on its way.
I have changed my union today from ATL ( touchy feely) to NUT ( ready for action)

It isn't about class Barmyarmy, I am middle class but that has nothing to do with my income. But other than that I agree with you.