If the PM DID means test child benefit could you manage without it?

brians_daughter

Just on news that they are still speculating about means testing cb..they havent denied it so i imagine it will happen at some point!

whats your opinions and could you manage without it? What changes would you have to make, if any?

Well, IMO they should do and i have said it for many years. We arent rolling in it by any means but i have always wondered why the G'ment fling money at ppl just because they have a child/ren - regardless of income. Our childrens cb gets split evenly and goes into our childrens own accounts for long term savings - we could afford to equal that amount if it did stop for us, but we would contribute something extra than what we do at the minute.

We have 3 children with 4 on the way so this would impact our finances.

Morgan_Ree

We're definitely not well off but could manage without the CB.

I have to say when DS was a newborn the £80 odd quid did come in handy for things like nappies. But as he's got older we've 'relied' on it less and less.
For about 3 years now we've just put it straight into a savings account for him.

Obviously not what CB was intended for but it's better than us just wasting it when it's not actually desperately needed.

balletshoes

I only have one child, and because I'm in full time work and earn a decent wage, have to say losing CHB wouldn't really affect me - but can also understand that some families do rely on it.

I do see why CHB would be the easiest to "means test" ie put an upper limit on the amount of earnings the household receives before CHB is withdrawn. Its administered by HMRC, same as Tax credits, and so the income could be checked once a year from P60 records etc. Compared to other far more complex benefit systems and rules, this one would appear to be the easiest one to put the process in place to cap it.

brians_daughter

Morgan_Ree wrote: »

For about 3 years now we've just put it straight into a savings account for him.

Obviously not what CB was intended for but it's better than us just wasting it when it's not actually desperately needed.

Well, thats what we do with ours... other wise it would just get eaten up and used as 'fun money' which, to me, is irresponsible so it goes into savings.. we do 'rob' ds1 tho as he gets the higher rate as the eldest..we just split it 3 ways

pinkshoes

I would rather they limited child benefit to two children only, thus discouraging people from having more than two if they can't afford it.

Kimberley82

I think means testing it is a great idea.

DS4215

Depends on how they do it. Money is a struggle at the minute, and it could be argued that currently it is used for petrol to take dd to her gymnastics (both are about the same), so it would be potentially another £80 to find from somewhere else...

pigpen

no I absolutely couldn't manage without it. Though I am a church mouse so would be eligible anyway.

Mine is used to buy the essentials for the children.. clothes, shoes, college supplies etc.. then there are the school clubs they are always wanting money for, days out etc.. and occasionally it is used to pay a killer bill.

I think means testing it is a good idea depending on the criteria.. I would hate to think children are going without because their family is 'borderline' I know it isn't a huge amount of money per child but it does make a big difference to some families.

ManOnTheMoon

Yes, thanks to recent land sales, i've been able to take a break from work and everything, so the CTB money is not essential.

It should be means tested, but should be a high cut off point.

jamespir

i dont get it any way so id say yes id be fine

clw1

Like the others I could manage without it as is is paid into my LO's savings account so not used for day to day expenses.