The government is f'ing greedy!!!!!

[sandrass]

I got married in 2009. Before I got married, I was getting approx $80 every 3 months in the GST credit and my husband was also. After we got married...we LOST that because they said we were making too much. This is crap...we are still making the same individually right???

Then...you are supposed to get GST when you have a child. They say we are STILL making too much even for that!

If I was on my own, or my husband was we would qualify for daycare subsidy.

Nope..making too much.

Seriously I hate this freaking government. No help. My friend who is a single mom makes just as much as me and gets over $300 a month in the child tax credit. Me? I get $80. Why? Because Im married

Would be better to live alone ffs.

 

[Foogirl]

I got married in 2009. Before I got married, I was getting approx $80 every 3 months in the GST credit and my husband was also. After we got married...we LOST that because they said we were making too much. This is crap...we are still making the same individually right???

Then...you are supposed to get GST when you have a child. They say we are STILL making too much even for that!

If I was on my own, or my husband was we would qualify for daycare subsidy.

Nope..making too much.

Seriously I hate this freaking government. No help. My friend who is a single mom makes just as much as me and gets over $300 a month in the child tax credit. Me? I get $80. Why? Because Im married

Would be better to live alone ffs.

The same happens here. Shit isn't it!

 

[aliss]

Can I ask what that cutoff is? We're at 95K/year (combined) and still get a GST!! Although we are not actually married but declare common law, not sure if that matters

 

[venusrockstar]

We both got GST checks until we were married then got told "you make too much" and we're cut off from that.

We do get the Child Tax Benefit every month. I'm getting $185/month for that.

 

[tu123]

Sucks huh!

We class ourselves as the "squeezed middle class". Earn too much to claim anything but have less diposable income than those recieving benefits.

 

[curlykate]

Can I ask what that cutoff is? We're at 95K/year (combined) and still get a GST!! Although we are not actually married but declare common law, not sure if that matters

Huh! We're common law, and make around $75-$80K a year, and we don't qualify! We make too much!
Also, I get the CTB, however it's nowhere near as much as I was getting before we declared common law. (We weren't declaring it, then they caught on and declared it for us).

 

[aliss]

Can I ask what that cutoff is? We're at 95K/year (combined) and still get a GST!! Although we are not actually married but declare common law, not sure if that matters

Huh! We're common law, and make around $75-$80K a year, and we don't qualify! We make too much!
Also, I get the CTB, however it's nowhere near as much as I was getting before we declared common law. (We weren't declaring it, then they caught on and declared it for us).

Hmmm strange. Maybe I am confusing what we get - I will have to ask OH, I don't deal much with the mail!

 

[curlykate]

Maybe it has to do with the province you live in?
I'm in Ontario....you?

 

[aliss]

BC

 

[Seity]

Well, I don't make as much as what you all are making, but it's too much for me to get any kind of benefits here. I think we're doing quite well though.

 

[Shwhattam+1]

I live in Toronto and between property taxes and the cost of living in general it is a very expensive city to live in. That being said, it is better for your child to be in a two income household rather than a single low income household. GST and CTC are based on income rather than marital status. I was a single parent of one and was not eligible for GST after a promotion which increased my income. Now that I'm common law and have two children, I get less Child Tax Credit and am not eligible for Daycare Subsidy. That being said, my spouse and I earn enough to get by and I'd rather be with him then on my own regardless of the subsidies or tax rebates that I would be eligible for.

 

[Shwhattam+1]

Well, I don't make as much as what you all are making, but it's too much for me to get any kind of benefits here. I think we're doing quite well though.

I'm not sure what it's like in the States re: tax rebates for dependents, but in Canada there are quite a few and they are based on income. Even individuals with high incomes will get some form of tax rebate in the form of a monthly Child Tax Credit, but they may not be eligible for other government programs like daycare subsidy.

Is there anything like that in the US? We also get $100/month for children under the age of 7 (or may be 5) which is to help offset daycare costs. It's a bit of a joke, as daycare for an infant in Toronto can be $2,000/month, but at least it's something.

 

[aliss]

I'm looking forward to our move to Montreal $7/day daycare and low housing prices!

 

[aliss]

I would guess that daycare is more affordable in the US, at least I hope so considering their ridiculous 6 weeks maternity leave!!!

 

[Seity]

Nope daycare is ridiculously expensive here, which is why is cheaper for my OH to stay home than work. We'd actually be paying out more than he earned in childcare. It varies on where you live, but the average is about $600 a month for an older child, around 2. It's much more expensive for infants, more like $200-300 a week.
When we do our yearly income taxes we get to claim a deduction for the number of children we have and there's a tax credit we can deduct off of what we owe as well.

 

[curlykate]

Daycare is ridiculously expensive here as well...even with my discount for working there!!
It's almost cheaper for me to stay home and look after Devin, instead of putting him in daycare. We're actually looking into buying a bit bigger house, and setting it up so I can watch a few kids during the day. Not a licensed daycare, but still more than just babysitting.

 

[tu123]

Same here too. We live in Wimbledon, London. The average cost is £1400 a month. The two i saw that were less were awful!!!!! Because of this i will go part time (3 days with Oh looking after LO on saturdays). I am well paid but still no financial point, when childacre is that expensive!

 

[venusrockstar]

Once I go back to work I will be paying $700/month for childcare. I am in London, ON. Once we have a second child, I'm not sure it would even be worth going back to work....we'll have to consider our options then.

 

[Eve]

I feel sooooo poor haha! Then again, we only have one income, but we get GST, and CCTB/UCCB. I think a lot of the problem is cost of living in different areas. If we had a combined income of 75-95k a year, we would be laughing, and childcare costs wouldn't be an issue whatsoever.

 

[Shwhattam+1]

My spouse and I make decent money, but an infant spot in Toronto can be $2,000+ a month. Add in the costs of working and it eats up most of my income. I will be going back to work though as the small amount I'll earn after paying daycare is still contributing to our household. As per the original post, the one area I would like to see the Gov't contribute more to is high quality, affordable daycare for all children.