Child Benefit cap right or wrong?

[Nearly there]

Just seen this on the news http://news.sky.com/home/politics/article/16182365
Is it right that two people living together earning £80k get child benefit?When a lone earner on £43k + wont,should it be for all regardless of income?£43k Is still a bloody good income imo

 

[CopperCyclist]

No it's not, but it's no more right that someone can choose to have four children without ever working and expect people to pay. The whole systems screwed up.

 

[ushills]

I won't go into specifics about salary but needless to say I would lose CB, however, my wife works Part-time our combined salary is probably less than many families where both parties work.

While I agree that the country needs to save money this needs to be fair. Someone on R4 suggested splitting CB between both parties in a household and treating both as individuals, this I could accept.

However, what grieves me is that we both run old cars, cannot afford to holiday in this country or abroad yet listen to lots of families on benefits talk about their holiday in spain with the kids and their new TV, ipod etc. I wish I knew how they did it as we struggle to make end meet each month and have no savings.

 

[JtB]

Just one of many examples where the taxation and benefits disadvantage a couple where one is the primary wage earner and the other is the primary family carer.

 

[Nearly there]

No it's not, but it's no more right that someone can choose to have four children without ever working and expect people to pay. The whole systems screwed up.

A few years ago I bumped into an old school friend who id not seen in over 15 years and the conversation got around to work at which he replied I aint worked in 10 years I asked why he said he was on "the sick" I asked what was wrong and he said dodgy back plus ive got 3 kids with a fourth on the way even more money he said why work,my blood was boiling I wanted to punch him,he said lets meet up for a pint sometime through gritted teeth I said ok he wrote his number down which I binned in sheer disgust at the lazy get.

 

[addictfreak]

Looking like yet another coalition policy in tatters!

 

[addictfreak]

A few years ago I bumped into an old school friend who id not seen in over 15 years and the conversation got around to work at which he replied I aint worked in 10 years I asked why he said he was on "the sick" I asked what was wrong and he said dodgy back plus ive got 3 kids with a fourth on the way even more money he said why work,my blood was boiling I wanted to punch him,he said lets meet up for a pint sometime through gritted teeth I said ok he wrote his number down which I binned in sheer disgust at the lazy get.

I have lost count of how many times I have heard similar comments over the years.

 

[MontyVeda]

All benefits should be means tested IMO... including the state pension.

 

[marinyork]

It is a mess. I think it's an example of another coalition policy which hasn't been properly thought out. It does seem a bit odd that a family earning £84k could get child benefit - that's a high wage in most people's book.

I suspect is has been thought out in the sense that there is some mechanism at the 40% tax bracket for implementing it that reduces some of the cost saving of means testing, which is generally expensive and is the problem in many of these situations.

Having a second parent makes it a lot more complicated. Rather than just a checking exercise with a few other things lobbed in there it becomes a problem of checking the earnings of two people and then adding them together. Their earnings may change and so on part way through financial years.

On the other hand we did go through a very similar thing with tax credits some years ago, which then led to a caving in and it not being withdrawn completely for families that were extremely comfortably well off.

Not that I am in favour of this policy. I'd rather keep this one universal an revamp tax credits instead.

 

[summerdays]

Well we'll be a family who looses out but actually I think we earn enough - though we are one of those disproportional families where Mr Summerdays earns significantly more than I do. However though I don't mind loosing Child Benefit it does grate that others will get to keep it whilst earning a similar amount but more evenly split between both adults. I'm not sure how to do it any better though.

 

[oldfatfool]

It is easy to say if someone(couple) earn £xxK so should not get child benefits, and easy to agree with that, but on the otherhand the more you earn the more you pay in, and the less you are likely to take out. IE the more you get paid the more likely you are to have private healthcare (ie not burden the NHS) the more likely your kids are to go to private school, the less likely you are to use other services etc. So on the whole I don't have a problem with child benefit being paid universally.

Though it would be a nice idea if the entire amount was paid into an account in the childs name that couldn't be accessed until the child became illeligable for further payments. This would give them a nice little windfall (£16k ish) to start their lives with, and would stop the doleites procreating for drug/beer/fag cash.

 

[Doseone]

The phrase "a camel is a horse designed by a committee" was tailor made for this policy.

 

[Red Light]

Its not just child benefit. The family with two people earning £42k each will get £15k tax free and the rest taxed at 20%. A family with one person earning £84k will get £7,500 tax free and £42k of their income taxed at 40%. That's an income tax difference of just under £10k making the child benefit difference quite trivial relatively.

 

[DCLane]

I'll preface my comments by stating that I'm one of those who'll lose out; I earn over the £43k point but as a family we're well under the £80k since SWMBO is part-time.

For me the policy doesn't work. It is creating an imbalance and will make a difference to many, including us. We can adjust but I'm aware of others who will struggle.

It would have been much simpler just to give the child benefit for the first two children.

 

[RedRider]

We lose sight of the notion that Child Benefit is a (ummm) benefit for children and should be universal for children of rich and poor alike.

Means testing is demeaning and the extra bureaucracy will cost and introduce cock-ups, under-payments, over-payments, fraud, unfairness and perverse behaviour.