No More Sure Start Mat Grant

viktory

Kyresa wrote: »

LOL, you think? The money you put in now will be worthless by the time you take it out!

Unless you have a crystal ball you cannot possibly know that. My pension is an LA final salary pension and at the moment is looking pretty healthy. Plus, I do think 50 years of working, paying taxes etc, will pretty much entitle me to the pittance the Government in charge at the time will give me.

DX2

gillianr2 wrote: »

our family like most who were entitled to it actually needed this money!

I suppose it might be the way others interpret that ^^^

gillianr2 wrote: »

I'd like to know who it was that said they factored in benefits whilst planning a family? Certainly wasn't me and I cant see anyone else who said anything of the sort of either. Weird how people like to make things up as they go along eh.

DaisyFlower

gillianr2 wrote: »

Yep, interpretation is a wonderful thing eh! I actually went on to explain that most young families couldn't do without in this day and age. Certainly nowhere did I ever indicate that we had PLANNED a family on state benefits, a load of complete tosh in my case!

I draw comparison to those who were losing the plot when the budget declared the changes to child benefit where those earning over a certain threshold would no longer receive it. They said they needed the money too but did that mean they PLANNED their children based on child benefit? Of course not.

If you didnt plan your family taking into account state benefits then even if they were all withdrawn you wouldnt be worse off in your calculations so why moan?

If you needed those benefits to afford children, then of course you planned a family at the states/tax payers expense.

mrsspendalot

gillianr2 wrote: »

You honestly think that anyone would plan to have children (in this case twins) on the basis of receiving a sure start grant and £190 Hip? Yeah sure cause that goes a long way. Yes the money would have been handy in buying a few of the essentials but did I plan a family on that kind of money, don't be so bloody ridiculous. I wonder if you have children? My guess is not. My guess is that your commenting on things you know absolutely nothing about.

I too would have been grateful of this additional help, but didn't plan my current baby around receiving it. I have children already, but when my last one was born I didn't plan on having any more. I gave all my baby equipment away to a local pregnancy crisis charity so that someone in real need could benefit from the things I no longer needed. They were really grateful. 5 years on from then, I have divorced, remarried and am expecting a baby with my new husband. I have no baby equipment left from my previous children and am starting from scratch.

The £500 grant would come in really handy at the moment, as since getting pregnant I have seen my hours reduced at work. However, I knew when I got pregnant we wouldn't get it as the emergency budget had already announced the changes. It didn't put us off having a baby though, and I certainly didn't base my decision on whether to have another child on whether we would or would not get £500. I doubt it would put many people off really.

krisskross

gillianr2 wrote: »

You honestly think that anyone would plan to have children (in this case twins) on the basis of receiving a sure start grant and £190 Hip? Yeah sure cause that goes a long way. Yes the money would have been handy in buying a few of the essentials but did I plan a family on that kind of money, don't be so bloody ridiculous. I wonder if you have children? My guess is not. My guess is that your commenting on things you know absolutely nothing about.

But did you take into account for your budget of affordability the child benefit and the extra tax credits? These are both benefits and are already being stopped for some families.

Sublime_2

I was never entitled to one, so makes no odds to me. I was bought a cot, baby bouncer etc by my relatives, so count myself lucky.

Graham29

Good grief, I had no idea about this benefit! £500 just for getting pregnant!

krisskross

gillianr2 wrote: »

Would you be totally ok financially if you were a few weeks off drawing your pension and the government suddenly stopped it?

Sure would. My state pension is £57 a week. I pay £40 a week income tax. so I would pay ~£12 a week less tax if I lost my state pension so down to losing £45 a week.

I would be fine financially but that doesn't mean I am going to refuse my state pension......I worked from age 16 to 59 with just 4 years off when having my 4 children, but was silly enough to pay the small stamp. I earned the bit I get.

AimeesMum_2

If your husband works 600+ hours per week would you be entitled to the SSMG?

AimeesMum_2

Yes, I meant 60+. I thought you could only get it if you were on a low income or income support.