Child Benefit Cap

Jokester said:
Have they sorted out the issue with 2 parents earning just less than £50k each getting the benefit but a single parent earning just over £50k doesn't?

Until that's sorted then I don't agree with the cap.
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This. I too disagree until this is fixed, unless it already has been of course.
 
Moses said:
Except poor people will still have kids, with the result being children living in poverty (and a lovely poverty cycle being created/perpetuated as a result).
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and why is this bad? Poor people will work and do what they can, trying to work their way up the ladder. Or face a life of poverty (this time with no free 52" TV or anything!)
 
Slam62 said:
Can anyone go to a food bank, is it free, do you have to prove you have no money?

Just asking...
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The jobcentre can refer people when they accept they can't possibly feed their families on what they have coming in.

I would also like to add a majority of the people I drop off too have at least one parent working but on such a low wage they cannot afford essentials such as food.

I volunteer for one in my spare time collecting and distributing food.
 
Me and the missus earn around 30K and don't 'need' CB. Cut back CB to 2 kids maximum, let parents on benefits get 1/2 the 'free' childcare they currently get. 25K cap on CB.
 
Trifid said:
The issue with this is, a couple of both earn 45K will be receiving the benefits but if just one of the parents earns 51K and the other stays at home then they lose the benefits. It's not exactly fair. It's also not like 50k is a huge amount of money after tax either, especially if you live in a area with high property rates.
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I live in the most expensive part of the country outside London. I'd kill to earn £50k a year so that doesn't wash with me.
 
It's a bleedin disgrace, I've just lost chb for two kids, last year they took away tax benefit of childcare vouchers @ 40% now 22%

Chip chip away

I'm seriously considering going freelance and earning minimum wage and taking dividends, I'd have to earn 2/3 of what I do and still end up the same nett
 
Simply, if there needs to be a cap (which is probably the case) it should be per household, not per income.

I still haven't heard a valid reason for this given that most other benefits seem to be household based.

Ah well.
 
Nitefly said:
PDF explaining how it works below, kind of:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/ch2-online.pdf

So it's a bit like income personal allowance in that it decreases in a linear way above a threshold until it's exhausted.
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Yep, and you need to register for self assessment or pull out of CB all together. Extra bit of paperwork as the benefit actually gets paid then you pay it back through tax.
 
estebanrey said:
I live in the most expensive part of the country outside London. I'd kill to earn £50k a year so that doesn't wash with me.
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Care to clarify where that might be?


Would you rather have 2x 25k a year household incomes + benefits or just yourself earning 50k supporting a wife and 2 kids?
 
Shaz]sigh[;23493209 said:
Simply, if there needs to be a cap (which is probably the case) it should be per household, not per income.

I still haven't heard a valid reason for this given that most other benefits seem to be household based.

Ah well.
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I did think that was quite odd... maybe it's just the simplest way of doing it? :confused:
 
Moses said:
Isn't that unfair on the child of poor parents? Growing up in poverty is not a pleasant experience, I can assure you of that.
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It isn't just a case of being born into poverty.. I would say a majority of the people I drop off too are victims of the recession.

They don't have big TV's as they have probably had to sell them to eat. The ones who have loads of kids on benefits know their way well round the system. I guarantee you a child benefit cap, general benefit cap and housing benefit restrictions will not effect them in the slightest.

They have been born into it and might be as thick as two short blanks in general education, but ask them anything about benefits and they will answer in a second with no reference.

Youngsters with loads of kids wouldn't be seen dead at a food bank.
 
Moses said:
Isn't that unfair on the children of poor parents? Growing up in poverty is not a pleasant experience, I can assure you of that.

Also, if you just leave sink estates to continue, you're not solving the problem. It'll just carry on, and on, and on. A nice poverty cycle.
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Its about as fair as 3+ generations not working a day in their life!

So instead of a poverty cycle there is mass debts that cannot be paid back. What happens if everything carries on as is (presumably getting much worse) there is no money for ANYONE?

A guy at work left because he gets more money on benefits having one child than if he goes to work. Plus he gets to spend time his his kid.

What would happen if everyone thought like that? No money for anyone and you have to start work - which is what should happen now, before its too late
 
Nitefly said:
I did think that was quite odd... maybe it's just the simplest way of doing it? :confused:
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I don't understand how, I did some work with HMRC and saw how the household limits and rules were applied to income for that and it seemed quite straightforward. Maybe they crunched some numbers and worked out there were more families with a single high earning role than with two mod earners... hmm!
 
Maybe as there are more benefits like 'Swedish guy who claims disability because he is addicted to heavy metal music' the standard tax rate will increase to 60%
 
There should be no child benefit full stop. If you want a child then pay for it, it's not as if the country/world is running low on population.
 
Childcare is expensive for 1 child let alone 2, I will be paying over £900 per month for my little boy to go to nursery. That £80 would have been quite useful.
 
Guest2 said:
Its about as fair as 3+ generations not working a day in their life!

So instead of a poverty cycle there is mass debts that cannot be paid back. What happens if everything carries on as is (presumably getting much worse) there is no money for ANYONE?

A guy at work left because he gets more money on benefits having one child than if he goes to work. Plus he gets to spend time his his kid.

What would happen if everyone thought like that? No money for anyone and you have to start work - which is what should happen now, before its too late
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Having worked for various parts of the Jobcentre as a contractor and continue to work for charities I think I can guarantee I have heard all this before.

You are totally right, if everyone had this attitude the country would grind to a halt.

I have heard the tough talk and seen it tried to be applied over and over again. Nothing changes, the bottom line is nobody has the stomach or the balls in Government to make a difference.

I want to be hard on these serial benefit families. I personally think that families who continue to have children on benefits should have the new born taken into care. Nobody should be bringing more children into the world and relying on the state to pay for them. At present we simply give them more money!!

Then we can treat the people who are genuinely down on their luck and needy with some dignity.
 
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