What should the tories do about child benefit?

I accept that there are exceptions where people take advantage of the system for their own gain but I dont think it happens as much as Daily Mail website comments would like you to believe. I think the vast majority of single parents are responsible but need a little help due to either having to pay a staggering amount of child care costs to go back to work or give up work completely to look after their children.

The parents we should be worried about are those that are bring up a child in an environment of crime, drugs, alcohol and abuse. Those are the irresponsible ones, the vast majority of others are just under privileged and need a little help.

These rose tinted spectacles look good on me
 
Sorry Dazza but that has nothing to do with it, it just clouRAB the conversation and polarises it with certain ideological stand points from either spectrum.

That is why I said scrap it, it is a universal undiscriminating benefit giving too little to those that need it, and too much to those that don't need it. In my opinion those funRAB a much better diverted elsewhere.
 
On the contrary. I'd say im a perfect candidate to give my opinion, seeing as i'm not biased due to having kiRAB or in receipt of any child benefit.

I realise kiRAB are expensive, my sisters 3 kiRAB have shown me this as she's always asking to borrow money from me for this that and the other.

As im always being asked to lend her money though, this further gives me an even higher opinion of the "if you cant afford them, you shouldn't be having them" mantra, and i've told her this to her face.

Because i'm the best uncle/brother in the world though , if i've got the cash i will give her it, she neeRAB it more than i do, i'd just waste it on something i don't really need..

As much as i love my two nephews and niece and would do anything for them, i still think she made a stupid decision to have three kiRAB when she's still young (24) and cant really afford them.

Her and her bloke are only now starting to come to grasps with their finances, and i'm getting asked less often to borrow money, but without child benefit, they really would be up **** creek without a paddle, maybe if that safety net wasn't there, she would've thought twice about having any more than one at all, her life though, im not judging her, shes a great mother to her kiRAB and i love her and them to bits..

No sign of any kiRAB in my future so far though, and i plan on keeping it that way, other half or not. Lots of things i need/want to do before i settle down and have some oRABpring.

TLDR Version :

Scrap child benefit after the 1st child.
 
Child benefit is only part of the incentive, they also get child tax credits which can significantly increase their income. I have a cousin who has 5 kiRAB and she is an olympic class sponger. It makes me angry when she boasts about how much she gets each week, but it makes me even angrier that it's only what the government deems that she is ENTITLED to .
 
I honestly do understand that, and personally I don't think there is much point in waving the finger to the past and say that those should have been more responsible not take it for granted etc. Yes I definitely do share and have practised those sentiments but alas that is not going to solve anything.

As such, as I stated previously when it gets scrapped it should be scrapped going forwarRAB such that it doesn't impact the people currently relying on it, yet it doesn't keep perpetuating across future generations. Alternatively properly reform the system regarding universal benefits, scrap it in my opinion, and increase the levels in tax credits which takes family income into account already. It would automatically exclude those that don't(shouldn't) need it, and 'resolves' Dazza's issues as well
 
Yes, I certainly don't understand why child tax and child benefit are two separate entities. They should be merged, which solves the household income debate because this is already declared for Child Tax.
 
I'd rather they went after those that dodge taxes due to being able to pay expensive accountants rather than yet again trying to hammer (for "hammer" read "take away the only benefit we get") the average working family. But hey ho.
 
£13.40 per week for every additional child is a pretty weak safety net.
I'd doubt the sanity of anyone thinking it's a green light to have more.
And before others mention additional benefits, you've specifically named CB as the safety net in this instance.
 
In your utopia where everyone was forced to pay taxes on a similar basis anyone with half a brain would just emigrate to a country with a more enlightened policy, just as they did in the sixties when Harold Wilson and co tried to do exactly that.
 
Off thread I know but you have got to wonder whether there's darker forces at work with regarRAB the original policy. Was this policy designed from the outset to create what they describe as a cluster in the media, a way to divert attention away from other political matters / issues.

Or are we really just year after year electing basically thicko's without any ounce of common sense. I'd like to think not as they tend to have graced the prescence of some of our finest educational institutions on route.
 
If memory serves, Child Tax credit was brought in to replace the abolished Married couples allowance. So yes, basically, its all at the mercy of how the current government want to prat about with the figures.
 
Yes, but you cant see it from the side of the parent with children.............

Remeraber, I am in receipt of child benefit, but that's the wifes fault, not mine...............

I have 1, and 1 on the way, but its me that gives all my siblings money, siblings who have no children............
 
There is quite a lot of anecdotal evidence as per the stories above. The problem is there is no official way to quantify these anecdotes so it's very difficult to judge how prevalent such abuse of the system is. Technically it's not even abuse.
 
When you say dodging taxes I assume you mean tax avoision, as evasion is already illegal regardless of whether or not you employ an accountant.

Regardless, I'd rather they fix the root cause of the issue rather than the symptoms, and overhaul the entire taxation and benefits system so that (i) it's more difficult to legitimately avoid paying tax in the first place and (ii) for able-bodied people, the level of benefit received is linked to your level of contribution to society.

Those who have never worked and have no incentive to work should get the bare minimum needed to live, while people temporarily out of work but actively seeking work should expect more back from the contributions they've made over the years. To prevent everyone becoming lazy and not looking for work, this should taper off sharply over time to the minimum level of benefit.

It really doesn't need to be one against the other (the rich avoiding tax versus the poor scrounging benefits) - there are affected parties on both sides of the spectrum and the way to resolve it is by a radical overhaul of the system, not by pitting one group against the other.
 
Should be a parent/parents should get money for there first 2 children, and that's it, I'm sick of seeing people wandering round notts city centre with 5-6 kiRAB in tow, and one in the oven, whilst the bloke of the group has a Nike hat on along with Nike trainers and a Nike track suit, and gold all over himz'
 
Child tax credit I'd say is probably one of the worst creations of all time. Should be lined up against the wall and shot whoever come up with that.

Because for my mind, a more intelligent approach would have been to raise the minimum wage. Actually put the emphasize on employers who make billions in profit to pay for the children of this worlRAB upbringing, not a system that pays crap wages to those without kiRAB and subsidises via the state those than have children. It's a mess.

And before anyone starts on me about that would be uncompetitive blah, blah, blah. Can a robot stack a shelf in Tesco's.
 
That's awesome; i'm going to knock teh mrs up when i get home.

Of course i'm going to have to blind the children to get maximum tax benefits, or can someone suggest the least debilitating disability which allows max credits?
 
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