Child tax credit is it true ?

[Coreynkayden]

Iv seen people sharing things about no money will be giving to families that are expecting there 3rd child after today does anybody know if this is true ?? I understand price cuts to help but i dnt see how me and my kids are going to suvive on the money i get wen my baby is here we only jst manage now :(

People on here saying "I don't qualify for tax credits and I chose not to have more kids because I can't afford them":

If your household is above the threshold for tax credits then you are quite comfortable. When you say that, I bet you mean "can't afford to keep another kid in the manner I think is appropriate"

That's not the same "can't afford it" as someone on benefits means. And it's insulting to imply the two things are at all equivalent.

gillybeans thank god for you!

And I understand the consternation of previous posters, I really do; the thought of someone else going off and having a child with hardly a care in the world for who's picking up the bill when you feel - for all your hard work - you could not afford to do the same? I get it, that's shit. But this is not the answer.

So a woman, a family, they have a third baby. For whatever reason. And by way of punishing them we punish the child by obligating them to a childhood of poverty and all the restrictions to their progress in life that that brings. And we wag our fingers at the parents like it was all their fault, and watch a child whose only crime is to be born of their mum and dad live a life cut-off at the knees before it's even begun. Is this what we've become? Do we do this to children??

I don't think this poor solution is the only option. I will not be voting for the government that have espoused it. It's not my job to know what to do about it, but there are people out there whose job it is, and they should be doing better. But for as long as people out there - on Mumsnet or anywhere else - saying that this is an acceptable or even desirable thing to do, no-one will offer a better solution. And believe me, there will be one out there. A more humane solution than punishing innocent children for the "crimes" of their parents, sometimes whose only crime is a contraceptive failure or - at worst - stupidity.

Of course footle but berating women in their thirties, forties, fifties, with 'what would your parents think' is peculiar.

I agreed with my parents on some things and disagreed on others!

I have one child and one on the way. I never would have planned another child if I thought I couldn't afford it. Why is that situation difficult for others to grasp?
You wouldn't gona holiday you couldn't afford, or buy a house or lease a car. Why have a child you cannot afford?

The only time I have ever qualified for child tax credits would be when I was a single parent, working part time and earning less than £800 per month.
I could then claim working and child tax credits, which brought my take home figure to almost £1200 a month. Plus child benefit gave me almost £1300. Had I lived on my own (stayed with parents, minimal bills) I would have qualified for housing benefit, council tax reductions and other benefits etc. That is more than manageable to live off.

Once I moved in with my partner my income went to £1400 after tax and his was roughly the same. However we didn't qualify for any financial assistance as a result, meaning I was only £100 a month better off with more expensive bills which actually resulted in less disposable income.

So this attitude of "if you don't fit the criteria for tax crefits you are living comfortably" is bull. We were financially worse off as a two income household compared to a single part-time income household.

Even now if I went part time or stopped working all together we wouldn't qualify for assistance, yet we couldn't afford our bills never mind anything else. Once my SMP kicks in I will recieve around 1/3 of my monthly wage, yet had I been in the position I was in a few years ago I'd have recieved more tax credits, possibly income support, housing benefit and the rest.

So if you cannot afford to raise three children on all of that and feel we working parents have it easier, you have no clue.

It isn't really as cut and dried as that epoxy

It isn't the case that here, Corey and Kayden will continue to have their needs met while no3 starves, wears rags and sleeps in the cellar. The reality is there will be slightly less for everyone. This is something faced by millions of families every year.

"If your household is above the threshold for tax credits then you are quite comfortable."

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with this. Its easy to say that those who earn a certain amount are 'comfortable' but, honestly, after mortagage, bills, student loans, council tax, car costs, childcare costs, food, clothing, etc even wages that don't qualify for tax credits can be limited. I'm currently pregnant with number two and we genuinely could not afford to house,feed and put another into childcare. We had to wait until my first was old enough for school before having number two. I genuinely think most families struggle Day to day.
I'm not commenting on the welfare cuts as I genuinely don't know enough about them. But it is possible to be earning 'good' wages and struggle!

Yes worship, all of the children of parents whose actions are follhardy/iladvised/accidental - whatever - will have less money. The more "foolhardy" their parents actions (so the more children they go on to have above their means) the worse off all of those children will be.

And that's okay, is it? Just because millions face that fate every year? I have higher standards for our country and our society than settling for that.

So many typos - whoops! Assume spelling/grammar to be corrected.

Where is the OP ?

Lol. I work in welfare rights. I know what the thresholds are.
A family above the threshold considering whether to have another child is living a very different kind of life to the OP. It's madness to suggest otherwise.
Yes you may be struggling. No, your struggle is not the same.

There will probably be considerably less as the rules kick in, epoxy. Which is of course the whole point.

Would you be in favour, then, Epoxy, of employers being forced to raise the wages of employees every time they have a child?

@Epoxy, I don't think anyone should live in poverty.

That's why if you cannot afford more than 2 children then you should not bring more than 2 into this world to live in poverty. It's the parent's choice to do that. The government is not forcing people to have more children than they can afford.

I can't afford to go on lovely Caribbean holidays every year (or ever). So I don't. Personal responsibility.

unlimiteddilutingjuice Lol?
I don't know how the OP lives, hence me not commenting on it. I made no comparison between our lives whatsoever. I don't assume to know how other people live. I disagreed with your comment about people being 'comfortable'.

Do you think so?

Do you think 'we will not give our additional child tax credits for a third child born after this date, given well in advance' is the same as 'poor people should have no children at all?'

I understand some are concerned about the changes to benefits but I do think hyperbole is unhelpful.

Back to the OP, I do think if she's just heard the news and until now had been expecting to receive CTC payments I can see it's a shock.

Out, not our, sorry.

poor people should have no children at all?

Can't see where I've written that.

"Can't feed 'em, don't breed 'em."

Lets face it, if the £2k odd a year you'd get in CTC is the only reason you're not having another child, then you are very poor already.

This cut will do NOTHING to stop people 'on benefits' having children. It will just push millions of children further into poverty. It's disgusting.

A neighbour of mine is having her fifth child. Fourth father. Neither of them have ever worked. Three of her dc have additional needs.

She's not doing it for the money. She's doing it because she truly, deeply believes this guy is the one, and that having a baby together will make them a family.

It's (lack of) education and socialisation. Everyone around her, for her whole life, has lived in much the same way. Kids = love.

Cutting their money is not the answer. And it won't save any money for the government in the long run.

What would you suggest then flowery?

How should she be educated out of her beliefs?

Are you not ashamed of yourselves? Would your parents be proud of your views?

I'm an adult not a child. HTH

This has been on the cards for a very long time.

Lets face it, if the £2k odd a year you'd get in CTC is the only reason you're not having another child, then you are very poor already.

Yet that is the choice that many who aren't eligible for benefits have to make.