Actually, if everyone who didn't 'need' CB didn't claim, then there would be a substantial amount of money to be spent on other things, things that truly are important that have been cut, such as women's refuges and help for homeless people.
I have a daughter with a disability, you think I don't know about things which are truly important being cut? I live it every day. These cuts are directly affecting her standard of care. If I thought for one minute me not claiming Child Benefit meant she (and others like her) would get what they need instead of what the government thinks they can get away with I'd give it back and more. The cuts are being made to pay back the UK's debt, not to share out amongst those who need it most.
I HATE this attitude. It's disgusting. People don't pay taxes as a nice little pension scheme!!! And we all get a great deal back from taxes; we get health care, police, social services, help if we truly need it etc etc etc... Taxes are paid (thank god) to improve the country. Money that you said yourself you would not struggle without is not exactly helping you, it's just a nice little extra for you. But the thing is, it isn't meant as a "wee thank you", taxes are paid to improve the state of the country, help people in need, and pay for the many many services and provisions we have access to.
Taxes are paid for the benefit of all, not just the needy. And of course the money helps. Yes I can still feed my family and put a roof over our heads but that doesn't mean the money isn't useful. To not have that £80 a month AND to have to save the same amount means we have to find it somewhere. Forgive me but protecting our daughter's future is more important to me than not offending a bunch of complete strangers.
No one is saying you can't buy what you like with your money, but it's fairly safe to say, I think, that if you can buy yourself a nice big car etc etc you shouldn't be complaining about CB. Yes, people live within their means, but why should the government give top ups to people living within much higher means than people really and truly struggling?! It seems fairly straightforward that if you're intelligent enough to get yourself a high salary you can do the simple maths that works out you'll be no longer receiving a tiny £1k a year and budget around that.
I'm not complaining about CB. Everyone else is. If it gets taken away, I'm fine with that. I can live without it. I accept the government has decided it should no longer be universal, but I'm still eligible within the parameters they have set out and so I shall claim it.
Not all low earners are imbeciles who haven't gotten an education nor worked for what they have, you know?! And no, why should people who have nice highly paid jobs be rewarded?! They're rewarded by their high earnings. People on lower paid jobs do receive top ups that make the wages substantially higher but only to the extent that they can actually survive on such wages- they're not being pushed up to £50k! And people in lower income jobs work, on average, just as hard as anyone in a higher paid job, and often the more menial jobs are so incredibly mind numbing that the feelings associated with such rival the stress of many higher paid jobs. As you said about the nurse and teacher etc, I don't know about people in such jobs in very expensive areas, such as London, because of course when the cost of living is higher things change, and if you truly need the benefit there is a big difference, however you have already stated that you yourself do not need it, and thus are arguing from the perspective that everyone should get it regardless.
I never called anyone an imbecile. Nor did I claim that anyone on a low wage does not work hard. Salary and hard work are rarely linked. Some high earners work hard and some do not. Some low earners work hard and some do not. But I've heard time and time again that many people are in a situation where by taking a job or getting a payrise means they end up losing out because they will face a cut in benefits. The system pays people to work less rather than encouraging people to work more. This is not the fault of those who claim the benefits, but the fault of the system itself. Why would a person work harder and longer to make the same money when they can work fewer hours and have it topped up by the government? And why would a struggling family take a cut in income and increase their working hours when the government pays them not to? I'm fairly certain if taking a job meant ends would stop meeting then I'd not take the job.
I also take issue with the phrase "menial jobs" As far as I am concerned, whether you clean toilets or are the head of a large multi national, your contribution to society is just as valuable. Maybe if people stopped seeing these jobs as menial, those who do them wouldn't have to feel like second class citizens and experience the stress you mentioned. I've cleaned my fair share of toilets on my way up and I know well enough how people feel if that job isn't done well.
You say 'how other people live their lives' like it's a choice to struggle. Many many people on lower income jobs work in the roles they do because they have no other choice. It isn't many people's dream to work 12 hours a day stacking supermarket shelves, but, especially with how the economy is at the moment, that's what happens for many- educated or not. And for professional low income jobs- whilst the choice to enter the profession was indeed a choice, it is oft not a choice to receive government benefits- or, usually, just tax credits-, it is a necessity. If you're on minimum wage, you'd have to be living in a hostel and eating supernoodles for every meal to survive without government help, as the cost of living (and I'm not talking nice cars and a social life, I'm talking water, electric, food, basic transport to work) has long surpassed the minimum wage. Thing is, the government know this full well, hence the benefits and tax credits, and that's the wonderful thing about this country in comparison to many: it is striving to make people equal in the ways that matter, i.e. basic standards of living, despite wages. And to get a better paid job?! I'm sure billions would love to just go and get a better paid job. For many, though, getting a job at all is extremely difficult. And to get another? So people should have to work 18 hour days to simply survive, because they didn't have the good fortune to fall in to a well paid job, or have the chances in life that led them to it?!?! Now I know you said you're not gonna say that, but the fact that you even wrote that suggests that people claiming in low income jobs is similar to people in higher income jobs claiming because they can. It's not.
I didn't fall into a well paid job. I also had no more opportunity than the 600 other children at my high school, nor the tens of thousands of others at the high schools across the nation. The education there was provided free to all by the government for anyone who wanted to benefit from it. I went to university without a grant or a bursary and with the same student loan that was available to all. I couldn't afford to live away from home so I stayed with my parents. I worked 3 jobs whilst studying to make enough money to be able to afford the things I needed to complete my degree. On graduating I took a low paid job and have worked my way up in the industry. At various points I have been without a degree led job and yes, I've stacked supermarket shelves too, and cleaned hotel rooms, worked in bars and restaurants. I've worked 12 hour days and 80 hour weeks - in all the jobs I've done. It's rarely been by choice here either. Other members of my family work as long and as hard as I do and earn a pretty good wage despite not doing so well in the education system as I did. We made our own opportunities out of the different skills we had. Fine, I get that some people haven't been able to do that, but that doesn't mean that we've somehow had all these opportunities handed to us on a plate and doors opened. My parents lived hand to mouth for most of my early years. They decided they didn't want to do that any more and changed it. I have no idea why it was possible for them and isn't for others. I'm not sure anyone knows why. It is certainly a question Governments always seem to be asking and not coming up with an answer. Maybe you can answer it, if you are in that situation? It can't just be the poor economy because it was happening the past 15 years when employment was plentiful
If you can afford comfortably not to claim, or to give the money to charity, then really, you shouldn't. Why claim simply for the sake of claiming?! Yes, you're putting it in to a savings account for your LO, that's great, I completely get what you said about her needing help as an adult, but would you not be able to put aside £20 a week otherwise? It isn't exactly the epitome of virtue to take money you don't need when the economy is crippled and others are in dire need, and claim you're entitled, simply because you pay taxes. As a PP said, the sense of entitlement so many have is exactly what is wrong with the western world.
I didn't claim for the sake of claiming. I was handed a form and told I could claim it and I did. And as I said, at the time I was on maternity leave, the money did make a difference. I save money in addition to the £80 a month both for her and for our family. That way if I ever do lose my job, I'll have no need to come looking for hand-outs. I also pay a big chunk into my pension, so I won't be reliant on the government for hand-outs when I retire. As I own my property, if I ever need a care home, I'll be paying for that too. Then there is the private healthcare and dental care I have, which I took out because I do actually think if I can afford to pay for that and leave more in the NHS for those who need it, that's a good thing. I even refused to buy prescription meds over the counter when pharmacists pointed out I could get it cheaper than the prescription charge. Whenever Abby is poorly the doctor always offers a prescription for paracetamol etc and I never take it. I could reduce my tax bill by claiming for stuff when I do a tax return and I never do. We pay for private physio for ourselves and for Abby when we need it. We pay privately for much of her equipment even when it is available from the Government. So forgive me if I'm happy to take my "measly" 1k a year. If any of that means I have a sense of entitlement then I'll wear that badge with pride.
As for charitable giving. As a volunteer for Bliss, a parent representative on a national Neonatal MCN, a fundraiser for Bobath, parent helper at Pre-school and nursery, even without the money we donate to charity (and never offset against tax - last year we gave waaaaay more to charity than I got in CB) I think I'm doing enough, don't you?
We could afford the Jag....probably not afford to eat though...
The R8 is amazing. But so flash, my goodness! I love the audi TTs we had one before child but lifting the car seat in and out ruined my back!
