new child tax credits for 2012!!!!!

[Aelanu]

I'm probably going to be viewed as a bitch for saying this, but why have a child if you know you can't afford to support them without benefits?

I waited until I was in a financially stable position to have a baby, that meant I had to wait til I was 29. I hated waiting, but imo it was the right thing to do. I couldn't have afforded a baby before then.

Flame me down now!

Not everyone PLANNED to become a mother nor did they obviously have the heart to end the pregnancy just because they weren't financially ready.

That being said, OH and I are broke (even though we both work) but we decided now would be the time for a child because he is 10 years my senior and my family has a horrible history with fertility problems (PCOS) and gestational issues (high blood pressure and gestational diabetes) after 30.

Not everyone has the luxury of waiting until they are truly financially stable- I know we didn't. I'm only 24 and I had so many problems with my pregnancy- I was in the hospital 8 times during my pregnancy- dealing with infections, pain, and a complete previa. I can only imagine how horrible my pregnancy COULD HAVE BEEN if I waited until we were more financially stable...and to be honest I think by then my OH would have refused to have more children...it was hard convince him otherwise for this one and he's only 34!

We may not have a lot of money- but we have a roof over our head and our bills are paid. We make less that $22,000 a year. My son is full and fat with milk, he's always got a clean diaper on his butt, and he's happy and healthy. There are ways to have babies without spending out the ass on money- thrift stores, cloth diapering, and breastfeeding. We only splurged on the necessities.

That tax credit will be heaven sent for us...we have been out of a vehicle for almost two years now. We are using that tax credit along with whatever else we get back to get OH's license back (unpaid fines) and put a down payment on a car.

 

[honeybee2]

My husband earns approx £14k as a part time college lecturer (he teaches part time, but all the paper work takes him up to full time hours so he's gone from home 8-6 most days).

When Louie was born, they calculated our tax credits (work & child) & child benefit from August 2012-April 2013 based on last years earnings of £12k to £571 per month. Its a lot more than most people because its one years worth of tax credits & benefits spread between just august 2012- april 2013. In April, we should be on about the same but it will be spread over 12 months and not 9 and we will receive £432 per month in tax credits & child benefit. I HAVE to get a part time job in the summer because my DH doesn't get paid in the summer as he's only part time. I'm not sure about childcare or if me working will make us worse off?

Its so silly how they make child care expensive? Not great for mothers who WANT to get back to work. I wish I could find a job

 

[Kristin52]

Lol does anybody realize how old this thread is?

 

[Tasha]

Yeah, its over a year but given that the changes are from today it seems like a good time to talk about it.

 

[Kristin52]

Idk anything about credits or that of, I'm from the US. Just wondering if anyone noticed is all.

 

[Lyd]

God honeybee that's good money u get from them. My partner is on 15k and I only work a few hours a week and at the moment im only getting £181 from tax credits a month grrrr! Useless.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I think the changes are confusing!

 

[Louisey80]

Once you start getting into the wage bracket of about 50 - 60k plus per person earning, (so maybe household of almost 80 grand plus or thereabouts) you are not an ‘average’ person in today’s society, unfortunately. This is usually people who work in big cities with big jobs. I am always in awe of anyone who has worked their way up the ladder, or started out as something of an office junior and now is the CEO of a massive company, kudos to them. But average people don’t often get those breaks, don’t get those opportunities or ‘life’ just gets in the way and they are stuck with their average ‘20k’ a year job. Now, when you talk about relative terms with spending within your means, there is also an imbalance. How can a person who is already scrimping and saving to pay a mortgage, feed kids, petrol in car, live in an ‘average’ area, downsize effectively to live within their means?. What happens to them is that they would then live below the poverty line and their basics go out the window, like limited gas, central heating, not eating as much as before or taking kids out of a safe school and putting them in a less desirable one to re-locate to e.g a council house.

So… then you have your £60k plus earners, and when their benefits are cut, what do they actually lose out on? Just a perspective on what ‘cutting back’ actually means to most people who pay taxes in this country and then what ‘cutting back’ would actually mean for ‘high end’ earners, they would still have quite a comfortable life in most instances, not the case for the rest of us.[/QUOTE]

According to your statement that would mean myself and my oh who combined earn 70K aren't average. I can assure you we live a very ordinary life with few luxuries. We can't even afford to buy our own house because we don't have a lump sum deposit. This tears my oh apart as he feels he should be able to provide a home for his daughter. So it's not all shits and giggles for higher earners, it's all relative. Yes I would get by without the £80 child benefit but actually while I'm on maternity leave I am using that money to pay for formula, nappies etc. also we both came from very normal working class families and have worked damn hard to be able to afford to start a family. Just because it looks like we earn a lot on paper doesn't mean we have much disposable income.
I'm not looking for sympathy,yes we are lucky.,but we're not overly privileged. We've worked hard since leaving school like so many other people and still live paycheck to paycheck.

 

[Tasha]

According to your statement that would mean myself and my oh who combined earn 70K aren't average. I can assure you we live a very ordinary life with few luxuries. We can't even afford to buy our own house because we don't have a lump sum deposit. This tears my oh apart as he feels he should be able to provide a home for his daughter. So it's not all shits and giggles for higher earners, it's all relative. Yes I would get by without the £80 child benefit but actually while I'm on maternity leave I am using that money to pay for formula, nappies etc. also we both came from very normal working class families and have worked damn hard to be able to afford to start a family. Just because it looks like we earn a lot on paper doesn't mean we have much disposable income.
I'm not looking for sympathy,yes we are lucky.,but we're not overly privileged. We've worked hard since leaving school like so many other people and still live paycheck to paycheck.

And that is the thing, most people who are earning £70k or so can get by without the £80 a month, whereas for many people on lower wages they couldnt.

ETA what I mean by that, is if the government need to draw the line some where because they cant afford to keep giving to all, then surely it is better that they drew the line where the vast majority of people in that income bracket will get by without the £80 a month?

 

[Louisey80]

Yes I agree, same as pensioners who all get the same benefits regardless of income/savings it's not right. Working tax credit should be available to support mums and dads who wAnt to continue working.

 

[becky011]

I should be going back to work in July ... but I dont know if I can afford to go to work with childcare and petrol costs .... nightmare
I am really starting to worry about it now!!

 

[chloelouise8]

We're not entitled to even child benefit....... I think a lot of people need to stop relying the state!

 

[fairydust87]

Dont worry when Labour come back into power it will all go back to normal x

 

[fairydust87]

We're not entitled to even child benefit....... I think a lot of people need to stop relying the state!

What do you mean?

 

[shmoo75]

I agree there needs to be a threshold but I think cutting it from over 40K to 27K is abit drastic. I also feel if one person in the household earns over 60K you shouldn't be entiltled to benefits as you should be able to manage quite well without.

I know if my DH gets abetter paid job(talking earning in 3yrs what he would earn in 9ys if he stays where he is)we would only get child benefit and the child tax credit would stop which, would be ok with me as, I am very lucky that both sets of grandparents are retired and look after the children when I am at work 2 days a week from March

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I agree with some of the thresholds in most cases x

 

[Kristin52]

Can I ask a really genuine question? Are these benefits like the US welfare? Or am I completely wrong?

I don't get any kind of welfare or assistance so I truly have to clue what equivalents are.

 

[fairy1984]

in some cases people who are earning those higher wages have got student debt to pay off, work in big cities which means either living in more expensive areas for a short commute, or living a bit further out and high transport costs and commuting in (the price of housing in the commuter belt into London is huge).

living in the south east costs a lot more than in other areas of the country (yes there will always be someone who can tell me that their area isn't in the southeast but is expensive but on the whole my statement is true) therefore what sounds like being on high wages, after tax, inflated living costs, train fares there isn't much left at the end of the month.

i'm not saying there is nothing left at the end of a paycheque so people NEED the CB but people are acting as if 50K makes you rich. well if you work hard and have been lucky enough to be educated and then got yourself into a position of having a good job, with not lot left at the end of the month, it feels like a kick in the teeth to be told that you're now too rich to have CB but the people living next door who are on 98K combined, apparently are in need of it and still qualify

 

[Meredith2010]

Can I ask a really genuine question? Are these benefits like the US welfare? Or am I completely wrong?

I don't get any kind of welfare or assistance so I truly have to clue what equivalents are.

I don't know anything about tax credits I'm afraid so can't advise on that one. Child Benefit was always pretty much one of the only universal benefits that everyone got, regardless of income. You get £20.30 for the eldest child, then £13.40 per week for each additional child.

However, this has now changed and if one parent earns over £50k per year then the amount they receive reduces, until if they earn over £60k then they don't get any at all. The unfairness is that it's done on ONE earner and not a joint income - so you could have both parents earning £49k each, so £98k family income and they still receive it. However, a family with a SAHM and the other parent earning £61k gets nothing.

So it's how they are removing it which is ridiculously unfair - but it's cheaper for the government as it's tricky from an admin point of view for them to do it on joint income

 

[special_kala]

Dont worry when Labour come back into power it will all go back to normal x

Labours version of normal is hemorrhaging money and not thinking about the consequences which is why the cuts are having to be so harsh.

I agree with most of the cuts tbh but they have started on disabled people which is wrong