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Topics: VAT| Council tax| CPI| coalition government
The average income of households with children will drop by 4.2% - or £1,250 - a year between 2010/11 and 2015/16 as a result of the coalition's tax and benefit changes aimed at reducing the deficit, a charity has calculated.
However, the average household income will decline by 0.9%, or £215, a year, says the Family and Parenting Institute (FPI), based on research carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
The FPI suggests much of the fall in income during the five-year period will be due to tax and benefit changes, as well as other reasons such as falling incomes.
"This research confirms that families with children are shouldering a disproportionate burden," said the FPI's Katherine Rake.
"This disparity is largely driven by a package of benefit reforms which have affected families with children.
"As a result of the changes being introduced between January 2011 and April 2014 families are set to lose more than pensioner households and working-age households without children," she added.
Changes already implemented by the government include VAT at 20%, reductions in tax credits, cuts in housing benefit, a freeze on child benefits, and the use of the consumer prices index (CPI) to uprate benefits each year.
Other forthcoming changes include more changes to the child tax credit and child benefit systems, reductions in council tax benefit, and "medical reassessment" of claimants of disability living allowance.
But the government hopes its new flagship benefit - the Universal Credit, which is being phased in from October 2013 - will protect the incomes of poorer families.
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benefit nonsense
Both myself and my wife work - me full time and my wife part-time and we have two young daughters (both pre-school age). I have a reasonably paid job and my wife is a nurse - together we bring in enough income to not qualify or any benefits -which we are fine with - BUT my brother -in-laws sister is a classic sponger - she has two kids - her boyfriend is long gone and she has never worked a day in her life - nor is she likely to - she has a council flat which has everything paid for her. She manages to take her boys to the football every week, has three huge plasma TV'sin her house and last year managed a week in Spain and ten days in Portugal with her sons - we managed a week in a caravan in Wales - something is not right somewhere!
Posted by: Paul Burnside
Benefits
The benefit system appears far too complex, and would seem to be far too generous in certain areas. Benefits should be fundamentally about the basics i.e 'shelter, food and water' and not a method to an alternative lifestyle. We need to get back to benefits for those who 'can't' not those who 'won't'.
Posted by: J. Philp
Tax and benefit cuts will hit families with children
The UK doesn't have a benefit 'system'. A system is a number of parts which work together in an organized way to achieve specified goals or outputs. Over the past 40 years, various governments have introduced a vast array of benefits which often defy common sense, are uncordinated and perverse, open to abuse and generally favour the feckless and lazy. This state of affairs will continue with the hard-working supporting unmarried mothers, immigrants from all over the world, disability fakes and other fraudsters. Unless, that is, the government 'bites the bullet' and starts from scratch. The question the government should ask is "if we were starting from scratch today, would we design the 'system' as it is today" -the answer would be "only if we're f****** crazy". So, Cameron, bite the bullet, lose the votes of the mass-lazy (most of them don't vote anyway) and start giving tax payers some value for money. Personally, I'm fed up (having worked for 40 years without a day off and with no Public Service pension entitlement for my old age)supporting the grabbing low-lifes that now make up a sizeable portion of this country's population. As a parting shot I would say to anyone contemplating starting a family, if you can't afford children then don't have them - I don't see why I should have to pay to support your family !!!
Posted by: Bill Wells
Bill Wells comment
In a word 'brilliant'. I would vote for you for PM.
Posted by: R Whitehead
Middle income working parents hit
It is working parents on middle incomes that are hit, we both work in reasonably well paid jobs and have two children but will see our after tax income fall by well over £1500 from April. We are both higher rate taxpayers, just and question what is the value of overtime and taking on extra work, the income after tax and expenses means we are working for about £1.00 an hour. It's not a benefits trap its a tax and NI trap.
Posted by: andy newman
not the kids fault
If you can't afford children then don't have them, come on Bill, our children our the countries future and unless you are an anarchist then it is in societies interst that we have a next generation which will support us in future. As for being able to afford children, what about the many cases I see where families split up, partners walk out, parents lose their jobs? Well I suppose we could still send the kids out to sweep chimneys, or how about under the weaving looms, or maybe the mines? Mind you even in Dickens time at least the UK had jobs in factories and the mining industry!
Posted by: andy newman
Not Everyone on benefit is a Low Life
I take offense at some of the comments posted. I am a single mother, who works, has always worked. I am not fortunate enough to earn "big" money and therefore do receive some support from the state, which by the way was cut significantly this year and I am now in a pickle as a result. A Pay rise is not on the horizen for reasons that I fully understand, but frankly it is getting very difficult for me. I am not a sponger or a person that has children all over the place, I have one child who I am trying to provide for and give her a lifestyle of sorts. Please try to understand that not all single parents are creating all of the problems. I was not a single parent by choice either.
Posted by: B Cusmans
no need to take offence
I'm sorry if my comment caused any offence - I was not aiming my comments at single mothers/fathers or any other combination - but at those who will not work because either the system rewards them for not doing so, or they cannot be bothered. I don;t see why the majority of hard-working people (including single parents who work and recieve some benefit support) should have to shoulder the burden of the aptly described above feckless and lazy growing minority in the UK. If we could rid ourselves of these leaches then UK PLC would be able to increase benefits to those more deserving.
Posted by: Paul Burnside
Benefits will hit families with children
To Andy Newman - I am not saying that there shouldn't be a benefits system. I am saying that the govenment needs to build it properly with the original intention of providing a 'safety net' against real hardship. As for the next generation, at the moment the next generation will consist of an even higher percentage of people looking for handouts and easy cash, taking their lazy and feckless parents' example of how to cheat the 'system'. It is the combination of a welfare state gone mad, a Public Service sector with massively over-generous pension rights and a defence budget aligned to the ridiculous idea that we are still a world power, that is crippling the UK economy. Unless the government sees sense, this dire combination will drive us all into bankruptcy.
Posted by: Bill Wells
Some need benefits
Bill Wells - I agree with most of what you say. However some people have children that can afford to have them, then lose job, lose home, lose everything and rightly so will go to the state for help. The main problem is once you are on benefits and can live a reasonable lifestyle without having to work people get caught in a trap - why work for less money? Most of us working people can see the benefits of work, but once you are on benefits it must be so difficult to then go back to work for little extra to what you are currently getting.
Posted by: S Hall
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Benefit system
It is about time the whole benefit system was reformed. If you have children you should be able to pay for them. There are too many people in this country that take advantage of the benefit system by having child after child and relying on the benefit system to house them and provide them with an income. I welcome benefit change and hope that the people/families that do work are not punished for the people/families that take advantage.
Posted by: R Whitehead