A ridiculous anomaly has arisen here in the UK… for the second time in just a few years.
If you earn more than £44,000 as a single wage earner, from 2013, not only will you be liable to 40% or 50% tax but you will lose any entitlement to Child Benefit in the UK. Now, I totally empathise with those who will say that people earning over £40k per year should not be getting a hand-out from the Government in the first place. However, that’s not what I’m complaining about – it’s the fact that, if there are two wage earners in one family who earn £43,999, that household will still be entitled to claim the money for each of their children.
A similar decision was made some years ago over Children’s Tax Credits – single wage earners were actively discriminated against, whilst households with two lower wages which added up to a far greater annual income were still entitled to receive the money.
Successive governments have banged on about how they want women to stay at home to bring up their children and yet they do so little to encourage them with this plan. Added in to that, the continuous prodding at single mothers to return to work when their babies are still tiny, rather than claiming benefits, those in power are sending the most ridiculously mixed signals to the UK’s mothers.
To be fair, the situation does need to be sorted out. A large number of families of my acquaintance are the recipients of sufficient income that they have no need of child benefit and some of those actually pay the money into a savings account for their offspring to drink away at University. And there are those families already on benefits who continue to have more children in order to gain further payments from the State so, in theory, I’m not against the idea of a universal cap on benefits in an attempt to save some money for the public purse.
Even millionaire, Lord Alan Sugar, was complaining in a recent interview about being given the pensioners’ heating allowance when he turned 60. Repeated attempts to return it proved fruitless and he was forced to find some other way to give the cash to a more worthy cause in successive years.
My friend, BendyGirl from the Benefit Scrounging Scum blog regularly documents her run-ins with the System locally when she tries to claim help for her disability. Form-filling that requires a degree in benefits jargon to successfully complete. And she’s still trying to get work, despite quite obviously being entitled to financial help until the medical bods can sort out an effective treatment.
Anyway, back to the Child Benefit silliness, if you would like to read more or sign the Save Child Benefit petition.
It is a bad thing that child benefit will be cut. It is ridiculous that if one parent earns more than £44,000, child benefit will not be allowed but if two parents earn more than this combined it will still continue. Does that make any sense at all?? I will definitely add my name to the petition.
Yes it does, Amy! And it’s terribly irritating that those in Government can’t see the ridiculousness and unfairness of what they propose.
You’ve given both sides of the argument there. The reason they have chosen the higher tax bracket is to avoid having to means test people which, otherwise, would mean another form that required a degree in benefits jargon. It’s a simple solution but creates the anomaly. The only other way would be to go back to having married couple’s tax arrangements and didn’t they do away with those a few years ago to give legitimacy to couples who aren’t married. However they do it it’s going to be crap one way or another.
Nice arse and waist in the pics by the way.
Jack Barrow recently posted..I am an arse – well partially at least
Hey Jack, Yup, as I understand it, they did do away with the married couple’s allowance – although I believe there is a new payment available these days. *Wonders if she’s still entitled since, technically, is still married*
But it’s just ridiculous that the anomaly exists, there must be a way – just as there is with Child Tax Credits. Couldnt it just become an extension of that?