Cons new 'Mummy Tax' Check Your Situation

DecentLivingWage

It seems they're paying three times more than men in tax and benefit and pay and pension changes so might be worth checking how you ll be affected -

"That is so unfair when women earn less and own less than men.
Labour's Yvette Cooper is concerned about Cameron and Osbornes attitude to women, warning that they at risk from being penalised more than men under a new plan :

"It shows that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor just don't get it and it's outrageous that new mums are hurt hardest."

Around 340,000 women claim either statutory maternity pay or maternity allowance every year.

Until now their benefits have gone up in line with inflation which currently stands at 2.7% according to the Consumer Price Index

But from next month new mothers' benefits will go up by just 1% every year as part of a three-year cap on welfare increases.

So by 2015 critics have calculated the benefits will be effectively cut by £180 because they will not increase by as much as the cost of living will.

http://news.sky.com/story/1062582/mummy-tax-cameron-under-fire-over-cuts

DecentLivingWage

Just remembered it's Mothers Day! Expect this will be a big talking point this week. Will new Mums even be able to afford childcare any more?

withabix

There is no reason why benefits should be linked to the CPI.

Wages aren't.

DecentLivingWage

Forgetting about the thee mums themselves for a minute it's the babies and toddlers that will suffer through no fault of their own - if the govt looks after mums, it's looking after fragile little one too. If it hurts young mums, it's hurting the infants, which is punitive and harsh. Better to protect our little ones with good education, a hot school dinner, Sure Start to get them learning and gaining social skills and employmment skills as teens - then we will break the poverty cycle and they will go in proudly to join the workforce.

System

So new parents will just have to recalculate whether they can afford children - I don't see a problem there.

As has been said wages don't keep pace with inflation - lots of people haven't had a wage rise in 5 years, why in these belt-tightening times would you expect the benefit system to?

DecentLivingWage

Not everyone is belt tightening though are they? The millionaire cabinet are spending £400 a ticket for going to parties, living it up in first class , charging poor tax payers for pony paddocks which is all ok and very nice for them as long as theyre not trying to con poor voters that 'we re all in this together !' Its the poor working people who are belt tightening while the millionaires get a lush tax cut - now its the turn of young mums struggling to feed and clothe their little one on a budget.

Let's see some 'belt-tightening' at the top - are the Cons leadership going to benefit from their own tax cut policy?

DecentLivingWage

Latest Update 10.45 - Labours Yvette Cooper looking at undoing it in their next parliament (Marr Show BBC)

DecentLivingWage

Baroness Varsi saying that 'government takes concerns seriously' Lets see what happens in the budget. Mummy tax, childcare costs rocketing plus the petrol costs to get the little ones there ... wages and jobs are so bad that many mums are finding it cheaper to stay at home as they are saving so much money out of their budget every week.

peachyprice

Did you stop to think that if labour hadn't given away so much with WTC, CTC and trust funds in the past there wouldn't be the need to cap benefits now. They created the ridiculously high benefits system and encouraged people to stay at home because it was more economically viable, someone has to clear up that mess.

DecentLivingWage

Lets see what ordinary hard working young mums think - I think you'll find a big turnout for Labour's Sure Start in Portsmouth the other day for example - protesting about cuts to the one ting that couldve helped ! 'Not Sensible' cutting, then panicking cos no reasonable childcare for Mums to work - Cons need to think again.

peachyprice

I am an ordinary working mum, one who only gets child benefit and one who hasn't had a payrise for 4 years, not even 1%.

They have a choice, they don't have to have more babies than they can afford, it's really quite simple.