"Another insult to stay at home mothers"

[Pearls18]

Firstly I apologise, I have gotten this from the Daily Mail, they have very successfully twisted this as it has gotten to the headline news.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...rking-couples-300-000-childcare-vouchers.html

So this has genuinely stumped me so I thought I would put it here, how are SAHMs being neglected by working parents being given a MEASLEY £1200 a year in child care help, I say measley because it is being advertised as an incentive to go back to work....our childcare costs £8800 a year for just 4 days a week, excuse me if I don't exhale a huge sigh of relief at the thought of £1200.....

I'm not saying I don't think SAHMs should get nothing necessarily, I just don't understand what SAHMs have to do at all with this childcare policy for working parents? They don't need childcare?

 

[lindseymw]

I'm on the same page as you MarineWag....I'm confused as to why it's considered as an 'insult' to SAHM?

 

[chezababy]

I haven't read the article so take this with a pinch of salt but I don't get it either. If you are a sahm you shouldn't need childcare so why would you need help to pay for it. You shouldn't be paid to put your child in a nursery etc just so you can stay home and sit on your backside. What I don't like about this incentives is that it goes up to 300000, if you earn that much you can afford to pay your own childcare costs and if you can't you seriously need to cut back. Why not make the threshold lower and give more money to families on a lower income because they actually need it and may appropriate it more. I imagine for some families this incentive still doesn't make going back to work worthwhile. I know that if I go back to work majority of my wages will go on childcare and this incentive wouldn't make things that much better. I will probably be better off not working even with this incentive when I'd actually like to work. This is mostly educated guesses though because I'm not there yet (lo is only 4 months) so feel free to disregard.

 

[lhancock90]

I'm a SAHM. I don't see it as an insult.
Infact, i see it like this. If i decide to go back to work, i have some help!
I don't need any childcare, thats the whole point in ME staying home!
The only part i disagree with is the 300k wage limit for getting it!

 

[Natsku]

I don't see how its an insult either, its clearly meant for help with childcare costs which SAHMs shouldn't need.

I do think the government ought to support SAHMs too though.

 

[JessicaM123]

I've been wondering this, to be honest it has nothing to do with Sahm's, its just the Daily Fail trying to write a shit pointless story as per.

I want to go back to work, so this is great but i will still be better off money wise, not working!

 

[lindseymw]

I've been wondering this, to be honest it has nothing to do with Sahm's, its just the Daily Fail trying to write a shit pointless story as per.

I want to go back to work, so this is great but i will still be better off money wise, not working!

It was reported in the news the same as DM, it being an insult to SAHMs. They interviewed a SAHM who was kicking off about it.

 

[hayz_baby]

The best way IMO for the government to help sah parents is to help top up their NI contributions for pensions and if they ever need to claim a benefit that has a contributions element to it. Remember children have the 15 free hours from age 3 and if u r eligible age 2 1/2. So no sah parents don't nee the help for child care. How it works right now (especially if u have more than 1 child) is child care is so expensive that having someone stay at home is the only way forward. It just costs way too much. If 2 parents are working for whatever reason then it's good the help is there. It should hopefully encourage more mums to think about returning to work as a real option (therefore more tax and ni being paid) I hope it is something they actually do and not just say and don't do. (I'm not a Tory that's for sure!) the £300,000 limit does seem rather high considering the child benefit cap was lowered recently, I would of personally thought they would of brought it in line. I also can't see how some on a £250,000 job needs help with childcare? Maybe they are using it as a gesture as they know they didn't really think through the child benefit cap in full.

 

[JessicaM123]

I've been wondering this, to be honest it has nothing to do with Sahm's, its just the Daily Fail trying to write a shit pointless story as per.

I want to go back to work, so this is great but i will still be better off money wise, not working!

It was reported in the news the same as DM, it being an insult to SAHMs. They interviewed a SAHM who was kicking off about it.

Oh really? I've seen on the news the story of the vouchers but i've not heard of other news stations calling it an insult. If they are and its made it into main news, then i think its all even more silly.

 

[Bex84]

I find no insult as a sahm myself. Im at home so i look after lo. Saying that i know alot of people who are sahm who do have lo in nursery and several get government help due to low income. I feel very lucky to have chance to be sahm and dont want her in nursery yet

 

[ellismum]

I've been wondering this, to be honest it has nothing to do with Sahm's, its just the Daily Fail trying to write a shit pointless story as per.

I want to go back to work, so this is great but i will still be better off money wise, not working!

It was reported in the news the same as DM, it being an insult to SAHMs. They interviewed a SAHM who was kicking off about it.

Oh really? I've seen on the news the story of the vouchers but i've not heard of other news stations calling it an insult. If they are and its made it into main news, then i think its all even more silly.

Nothing to do with the fail stirring for once!!! It's been on the radio and news too with interviews from SAHM complaining they've been left out.

Given childcare in the UK costs nearly 4 times as much as most of Europe when it comes to the average % of take home pay would it not be better to focus at reducing these costs in a more direct way?

 

[Pearls18]

Out of interest why is childcare so expensive in the UK? Presumably the government subsidises it in these other countries because while the cost is extortionate when it is cancelling out your own wages, it is not overly unreasonable for the cost of childcare I don't think, I don't believe they make masses of profits, look at childminders for instance, yes it's a good amount of money but for the work I don't think it's too much.

 

[Bex84]

Its so expensive due to nurserys are private buisnesses so out to make profit, then they have insurence, staff, equiptment etc to pay for. They also have to create cushion for drop in numbers, parents not paying on time, electrics etc going wrong.

 

[lindseymw]

The thing is it doesn't seem much different to the child care voucher scheme that is in place now.

New Scheme: For every £1 paid in is split 80p paid by parent 20p by Government
Scheme now: Child care voucher paid out of wage before tax (tax being around 20% give or take).

Anyone know if it's running along side childcare voucher scheme?

 

[chell5544]

i think itis going to replace the current scheme, the difference is with the current scheme not all employers offer the vouchers (my employer doesn't) and if you only work part time like me i don't pay that much tax for it to benifit me doing the vouchers.
the new vouchers will be done online by the parents

 

[lindseymw]

That's a point Chell5544, I forgot not all employers offer the scheme at the moment (both mine & DH offer it).

I'm the same as you, work part time so I don't pay much tax. If we were to do the vouchers, it would come through DH's wage.

 

[Natsku]

Out of interest why is childcare so expensive in the UK? Presumably the government subsidises it in these other countries because while the cost is extortionate when it is cancelling out your own wages, it is not overly unreasonable for the cost of childcare I don't think, I don't believe they make masses of profits, look at childminders for instance, yes it's a good amount of money but for the work I don't think it's too much.

Yeah other countries subsidise it a lot more I guess but then again even private child care here (which I don't think is government subsidised) isn't anywhere near as expensive as in the UK (but I guess competing against very cheap state childcare they can't charge as much)

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Its not insulting. I'm a SAHM as I am my sons carer.

 

[kit10grl]

Im a SAHM and I don't find the idea that they are helping working families with childcare insulting at all.

Some of the quotes they have are a bit insulting tho. It says it will help 'strivers' back to work thus implying SAHM's are not striving to be anything. And it goes on a bit about the whole cutting of child benefit for families on 50,000 so I could see that if they felt the child benefit that was taken away was being used to subsidise this they could be annoyed maybe .

The only thing I that would really bother me (and it wouldn't affect me cos im married) is the fact the scheme is only for families with two incomes. Surely single SAHM's need as much help if not more help with childcare to get back into work but a single mum wouldn't qualify for this scheme. That isn't right.

 

[chell5544]

Im a SAHM and I don't find the idea that they are helping working families with childcare insulting at all.

Some of the quotes they have are a bit insulting tho. It says it will help 'strivers' back to work thus implying SAHM's are not striving to be anything. And it goes on a bit about the whole cutting of child benefit for families on 50,000 so I could see that if they felt the child benefit that was taken away was being used to subsidise this they could be annoyed maybe .

The only thing I that would really bother me (and it wouldn't affect me cos im married) is the fact the scheme is only for families with two incomes. Surely single SAHM's need as much help if not more help with childcare to get back into work but a single mum wouldn't qualify for this scheme. That isn't right.

Of what i read which does sound abit confusing is that the new universal credit which is going to replce ctc and wtc will cover 85% (at the moment is 70%) of childcare for single working part time/full time low income mothers.
This article explains it at the bottom in a table.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23565469