A message from Harriet Harman - Minister for Women and Equality - how is the credit crunch/recession is affecting you and how do you think Government can help?

[JustineMumsnet]

Harriet Harman writes:
We want to protect families from the credit crunch with real help. And we want to hear what Mumsnet are concerned about during this recession; what you want us to be doing about it; and what you want to see changed for the future. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is hosting an international Economic Summit in London (which President Obama will be coming to) in April to agree with other countries how we work together to get the global economy back on its feet and growing again. I want to hear from you and feed your views in to this summit.

Opinion polls tell us that women are more concerned about the impact of the recession than men, is that your view?
Is the recession affecting your family life and if so how?
Are you getting the advice and information you need if you ask for help?
What do you want to see government doing to help with that?
What do you think about bonuses?
How can we help women who want to start their own businesses?

Reintroduce credit restrictions so banks and other institutions can never, ever, ever ovlerlend and overextend themselves or us. Regardless of the ridicuslou financial alchemy they think they've discovered.

Pay mums to stay at home and look after their kids if they want to, not just offering working tax credits and subsidised childcare. It's the equivlant of forcing people to work and paying other women to look after their kids. It's not wrong but where's the choice? And where does this policy hole take us in a world of 3 million unemployed.

Introduce tax breaks for couples with kids. Or at least allow them to pool their income tax allowances. Our income plumetted when I had DS. At the time in your life you're most responsible, you're the brokest you've ever been, under the most pressure financially and emotionally. Would make a huge difference to family breakdowns in my opinion. And encourage mums to stay at home and look after their own kids if they want to. Not go out to work and give them to someone else to service their 7 1/2 - 10 times salary mortgage that they should never have been given in the first place.

THE CATS GOT TO FAT Harriet-Wealth re-distribution-im serious -all the individuals that have been aloud to accumulate vast quantities of personal wealth. (who really needs billons and billions unless you want to start your own PLANET!?!)
TAKE IT BACK it was ours to begin with-EVERYONES that is- not just the few that where in the right place at the right time and where greedy enough to take it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I want my daugther to grow up in a fairer world not one where a few people are able to sit on a pile of money so big it could wipe out child poverty of a whole country and instead of doing just that, they go and commision a super cruiser or some rubbish!!
To help me though the "credit Crunch" you could crunch those few who have run off with our economy-Capitalisim didnt work.
Get it all back and lets start agian shall we!?

Would like to add that since the economy survives significantly in certain sectors of industry on freelance/self employed that more thought be given to what happens to all of us when unemployment soars. Much tougher criteria for JSA, if your NI contributions allow it at all.

It's a total nightmare.

OPh Yes and last hing tax the hell out of people earning £100k plus. I CANNOT blieve you didn't do it in the good times and I know scores of others who were whooping with joy in 97 and weeping and disollusioned by 2008. I mean really. Call yourself a Labour government.

Thanks for asking us, but will it really make any difference?

Childcare childcare childcare.

Please make this tax deductible when it does done to facilitate working. For those of us on a middling salary they are an enormous hit and make us question whether we can afford to work. I do not understand the justification for allowing business class flights/ champagne at corporate functions to be tax deductible but not childcare. Which is more necessary and connected with productivity?

The farce of childcare vouchers means only £486 is tax deductible if you are lucky enough to have both parents working for employers who offer it. This is tokenism. Plus it is a complete lottery as to who offers it. For some people it negatively effects their pension. Please, show us you are serious about helping working parents and make the whole lot deductible on a tax return.

I'm very concerned about the effect the low interest rates are having on savings. This is affecting many women who may have saved up money to put to one side to use while on maternity leave - they're now getting no income. Infact money in accounts is decreasing in value as inflation is more that interst. Pensioners affected the same. The government need to abolish income tax on savings interest - NOW!

Is the recession affecting your family life and if so how?
No.

Are you getting the advice and information you need if you ask for help?

n/a

What do you want to see government doing to help with that?

n/a

What do you think about bonuses?

How can we help women who want to start their own businesses?

I wouldn't like to suggest anything, as I don't want to start my own business.

Generally, many people's lives would improve if the government:

• reinstated the married couple's tax allowance.

• stopped bullying women back to work when their children are small.

• stopped peddling organised childcare as the solution to all society's ills. Small children thrive best with one-to-one care from an adult who loves them (mother, father, auntie, grandparent, nanny - whoever). So long as children are being herded into institutions, we are storing up hideous long-term problems for everyone's emotional and social well-being.

If mine had gone to nursery, I'd have been able to claim the nursery grant. Why could I not have the equivalent amount to educate and bring up my own children?

This government really has lost the plot where families are concerned. If it ever had a plot in the first place.

Opinion polls tell us that women are more concerned about the impact of the recession than men, is that your view?

I don't know - is that women or the partner who stays at home? Because I work full time and partner is SAHD, but I look after most of the finances and therefore worry most.

Is the recession affecting your family life and if so how?

Only falling house prices. We've had to completely re-think our plan on converting loft for third bedroom as that relied on their being equity in the house. Oh and no foreign holidays. But work wise I work in financial regulation, which I suspect is a boom industry.

Are you getting the advice and information you need if you ask for help?
n/a

What do you want to see government doing to help with that?
on-line info is always good.

What do you think about bonuses?
I think bonuses are really a side issue. Bonuses for city/banking jobs are seen as part of the overall renumeration package not as a reward for anything. Salaries in theses areas and for CEOs have exploded over the last decade, partly as a ratchetting effect of making them public. Effecting a culture change that no-one's job is worth that much is massive - I'm attracted to the idea that no-one in a company should be paid more than 10 times the lowest paid - but if there was any time to try and do it its now. If what we are learnign from the credit crunch is that some things: houses, shares, ludicrous finacial instruments have been massively over-valued - then the renumeration packages shoudl be seen in this light. But it needs global co-operation to bring it about, obviously shareholder action won't do it even when we, the great british tax payers are the shareholders.

How can we help women who want to start their own businesses?
Childcare, childcare, childcare - obviously. And grants or bail-outs. starting your own business means taking risks, trying and failing shouldn't put your benefits, house and family at risk.

Okay and not a question you asked, but we have one of those traditional families in reverse - I work , he stays at home and although I'm lucky enough to earn enough to put me in the higher rate tax bracket; we are much worse off on the tax we pay than we would be if we both worked and he could claim his personal tax allowance too. How can that be right? The child tax credit which is the recognition we get for him looking after the child is derisory.

Is the recession affecting your family life and if so how?
DH was made redundant in November, he has just got a new job but it is less money. We have struggled finacially, it was sudden and he had only been with the company a short time, so no redundancy. We were only able to keep dd's nursery place because a relative has offered to pay until we got back on our feet. We didn't want to lose it as we thought dh would be in work soon and so would need childcare. I am a pt teacher, so my work is unaffected.

Are you getting the advice and information you need if you ask for help?
I think that when he went to the jobcentre they were less than helpful tbh. Working out CTC is really difficult

What do you want to see government doing to help with that?
I think it should be easier to claim jsa quickly. The way that CTC is set up makes it difficult to work out what you are entitled to and to alter the benefit when your circumstances change.

What do you think about bonuses?
I think that in the city they encouraged reckless gambleing, I think that if you improve your companies performance then bonuses work well, but in the financial sector they clearly need regulating. I don't think that if a company has lost money people should get bonuses, that doesn't seem to make any sense to me.

How can we help women who want to start their own businesses?
I think that having start-up loans available would help and also advice. A similar service to that which the princes trust offers young people?

It's affecting us as dh wants to change jobs, but can't atm, so comes home and moans and we're both fed up.

How can the government help working mothers? - simple- forget about creating legislation that provides more incentives for companies to disriminate against women and get creative. All companies of over 20 people shud b obliged to employ 5% of the workforce on a part-time basis not as cleaners but in roles that pay in the top 25% of salaries. More people working part-time wud save lots of redundancies.

Also all companies should be obliged to offer all men and childless women a year's sabbatical

Bonuses- the banks may be claiming to be cutting back, but rumour has it they're handing out big pay rises instead. In the companies I've worked for if the company doesn't make a profit, no-one gets a bonus- fair enough.

And of course, childcare- all schools should have after school clubs.

Long thread so not read it all.

Has anyone mentioned how we are being royally ripped off re petrol prices?

Oil is $30odd per barrel and we are going up and up and up to nearly £1 ltr. When oil was $140 a barrel, we were paying a pound.

Now I know the pound has lost value but come on, stop taking us for fools!

They are VERY quick to raise when the price goes up - or they can convince us that the price has gone up.... like they did before by telling us that it had gone up in DOLLARS without mentioning that due to currency differences it had actually gone DOWN in pounds. They don't lower it to reflect the REAL reduction do they? Nor do they keep it at the lower price for long!

We are being totally, utterly, completely ripped off and we just take it. And the government does nothing probably, in my opinion, because half of them earn more from the oil companies than they do from being an mp, and the rest of them - the ones that won't be taking euro posts or senior bank posts will be slipping away to lovely positions with these big businesses.

The question this government is really asking of us is what can we pretend to do, in order to fool you into voting for us next time.

There are SO many things that could be done to make things better, but that wouldn't be in the interests of those who have the power in this world. So us serfs must continue to suffer.

Hecate you are so right, and its so depressing

oh yes, and fecking DO SOMETHING about the gas and electricity pre-pay meter RIP OFFS!!

Oh what's that? MPs retire into positions in those companies too?

well I never.

Thank you for asking.
Forgive me for not reading previous posts; time is limited.

To your points.

1. Personally the men I know are much much more worried about the impact of the recession than the women. The men I know tend to feel the burden of breadwinning more keenly, while the women feel the burden of cheering everyone up and maintaining a positive outlook.

2. Our family life is affected because we spend less time enjoying each other and more time worrying and planning how to survive. We are more stressed and it's difficult to relax. It robs you of the joy of spontaneous action even if it's just buying a chocolate treat - every thing is a possible cause of financial ruin.

3. Advice and information is available. Problem is quality and the simple fact that a thousand analysts can't tell you when this will end, which is what we all want to know.

4. Government could help by giving tax breaks to families like they do in the US or France. It's a pity that middle class families are perceived as being too well off to need help - we should be supported.

5)Bonuses. What bonuses? It's grim when you work long hours and are not rewarded for it.

6. Anyone who wants to start a business (women or men) need practical help with things like how to register your company, how to set up a bank account, how to find a good accountant, and how to write a business plan. Before you can start a business it has to be created legally and it should be planned or else it won't be viable.

Just want to second the mesagges about childcare.

Women who want to contribute to the economy by working end up in the posistion of then paying a large portion of their salary in childcare (esp if they have more than 1 child in nursery care).

The so called 'free' nursery places help, but they are not truly 'free', are they, if one has to pay wrap around care (who has a job with working hours from 9-11??!)?

Same with tax credits -- it is a great savings, but why can't I have tax releif on all my earnings which go toward childcare?

Opinion polls tell us that women are more concerned about the impact of the recession than men, is that your view?
Yes I think, on the surface at least, women are generally more concerned/ honest about the problems. Many men try to bluff it out, maybe this is just reluctance to show weakness. I realise this is a big generalisation though, but just based on my experience. Women may also feel powerless if they are a SAHM and dependent on another income over which they have no influence. This was the case with me; I was/ am a SAHM but have just been lucky enough to get a job. My motivation for doing this was purely as a reaction to the scare stories and to have a second back-up income. I plan to save, save, save... so that we have plenty of emergency funds. I am not greedy and don't want to work as IMO being with my ds in his early years is more important than material things.

Is the recession affecting your family life and if so how?
Yes: spending less, saving more (which may make recession worse, but having backup funds in case of job losses important). Have put plans to move on hold as nervous about increasing mortgage debt, even if house sold...

Are you getting the advice and information you need if you ask for help? Haven't needed to ask yet.

What do you want to see government doing to help with that? n/a

What do you think about bonuses? Quite offensive/irresponsible in the current climate IMHO.

How can we help women who want to start their own businesses?
Not sure, although I think some people struggle with forming an initial idea of something viable for their area. Maybe some kind of list identifying the 'lack of' businesses in a particular area/ assistance with targeting gaps in the market, so that any new initiatives are more likely to be sustainable.

PS. I also just wanted to say it's nice to see a minister posting on here and asking for opinions.

disorganised - excellent suggestion re part time working

Starting businesses:

There's a HUGE amount of information already available to anyone wanting to start a business (as long as you have a PC and internet connection) through businesslink and any number of start up websites.

But you CAN'T ACTUALLY MEET with banks, advisors, accountants, suppliers or customers with a baby or toddler in tow! (I know, I've tried).

Yours,

Housebound of Hove

Opinion polls tell us that women are more concerned about the impact of the recession than men, is that your view?
Yes.

Is the recession affecting your family life and if so how?
Yes. We have an 11-month old baby, and I lot my job while on maternity leave in August. As a result I had to start a new job in January, despite the fact that I was only planning to go back after DS's 1st birthday. It is a real "Mummy track" job. An awful lot of work for a tiny amount of money, but that is what you get part-time. Do a full-time job for the fraction of low-paid full-time salary.
Now, of course, we cannot buy a bigger house, so DS will not have brothers or sisters. We'll repay our mortgage next month, and sit tight till times are a bit better.

Are you getting the advice and information you need if you ask for help?
Yes.

What do you want to see government doing to help with that?
I am not sure it is the government's call. Anyway, scrapping the London Olympics and all kinds of prestige investmenst would be a start.
Then instead of cajoling banks into lending, use your own nationalised banks (Northern Rock, etc.) and undercut the other banks. Banking has always been a lazy business in England, wake them up. Where else in the world would transferring money take so long and cost so much?!
In terms of my own problems, only better quality jobs in the North East would help me. Before I had DS, I could only get fixed-term jobs, as nobody wanted to employ a relatively well-paid woman who might go on maternity leave.

What do you think about bonuses?
As a former banker myself, I used to live from one bonus to the next. I did not move in with my DH immediately after the wedding, because if quit my job then, I would have lost all my bonuses for which I worked all year. It is a way of life.
Bonuses are not the problem, I think the Key Performance Indicators need to be re-designed. If somebody works hard, they need to be rewarded.

How can we help women who want to start their own businesses?
I do not know that. I just want a safe, permanent, rewarding part-time job with adequate compensation.

Thanks for asking and good luck, Harriet.

Oh, yes and I agree with Yoghurtgirl. CHILDCARE, CHILDCARE, CHILDCARE.

Paying £800 a week for a full-time nursery place means all your salary goes to the nursery with one child. With 2 or more children you cannot go back to work.

Opinion polls tell us that women are more concerned about the impact of the recession than men, is that your view?
....In our house it seems to be. I currently spend money / save religiously / cut costs to a minimum like he's aleady lost his job... preparing for the worst which will probably never happen - but its better to be safe than sorry.

Is the recession affecting your family life and if so how?...just thinking about everything we spend; planning more carefully meals; days out; activities. We use the car less. I save money when shopping - cheaper products; when cooking - less meat, more veg to bulk up meals, one pot cooking ... really, I'm obsessed with saving money with out compromising on healthy eating.

Are you getting the advice and information you need if you ask for help?.. ha ha ha NO

What do you want to see government doing to help with that?... I have too many ideas wo write down

What do you think about bonuses? I would like one please. Thank you.

How can we help women who want to start their own businesses? I just need time to do my idea for a business ... and some sleep ... sleep would be so so nice

I have secure employment (in the care sector) and would like to boost the economy and cheer myself up by buying a new car, as I have no other debts at all I would take out a loan for about 1/2 the purchase price if I did this. I am not buying a new car at the moment because the interest rate being offered is between 8 & 10% and I think it is ludicrous for the banks to offer finance at this rate now bank rate is 1%. Also the bank is paying virtually no interest on my on line saving account but would charge me 1.75% per month if I used my credit card and did not clear the balance each month. My brother who is in the motor trade also tells me the same bank are being incredibly unhelpful with him despite the fact that he has very small borrowings that are amply secured. I think the banks - Lloyds in particular- are doing nothing to help people and are profiteering with the interest rates they are offering to people with good credit ratings who would be spending to help the economy if they could.

I have to disagree that its nice to see a minister on here asking for opinions. It will be nice if the minister listens to the opinions and does something.

Call me a cynic but I reckon this is a load of spin. HH finds a large target of voters and for a good number will have the desired effect - people will think she's listening, etc.

I'm sure there will be a big waffly post about how she's taing it on board and she agrees with us and will take it forward, blad, fucking, blah. Nothing will happen until the revolution. Labour are a corrupt load of gits who are running this country into the ground.