Peers push for child benefit exclusion from welfare cap

Benefits

It is about time the benefits were reviewed in this country. There are too many people sat not working producing children who think it is ok to have the rest of the working nation providing a living for them. I totally understand as a working mum that it is difficult but why should I and every other tax payer pay for familes and their children? If you cannot afford to have children you shouldn't have them. A cap at £26,000????!!!! What are these people doing to earn any of that money. Very unfair.

Posted by: R Whitehead

Are they joking?

My daughter and her partner live on £20,000 a year - they have three children in the South East. The idea that non working scroungers can screw the syetsm for £25,000 per annum tax free broadly equivolent to £35,000 per annum pre tax (an income my daughter can only dream about) is ludicrous and unfair to the taxpayers who support the system and to the hardworking families who get little help if any help from the state. Rather than worry about the child benefit of the few worry about the hard working tax payers whose sweat pays for all this largesse.

Posted by: Simon Webster

At last

Finally movement in the right direction!!! I have no idea how any responsible adult can assume its their right to breed at the cost of hard working people. I like most am all for offering assistance to those in need but the abuse of goodwill has gone on far to long! I am not sure I agree with the child benefit to remain in place and seperate from the other benefits though, a very good living can be achieved on £35,000 gross!!! Now to get these benefits to apply to UK nationals only!!!!

Posted by: Anne

Child Benefit

Without doubt Child Benefit (Family Allowance) is a truly outdated state benefit which ought to perhaps be withdrawn completely. After all the backgound of this benefit goes back decades to the days when the working man was paid weekly on a Friday, but by the Saturday morning very little of the cash was left, having been spent in the pub the night before. It was because of this that Family Allowance was introduced and was a benefit paid directly to the mothert, thus cutting out the husband/father. Surely we as a society have moved on from these days and there is no longer any need for the State to continue paying it. Also I have to say that people like the Bishops and Paddy Ashdown (yesterday's man) are taking an unreal and aloof approach to this matter. For far too long we have been paying State Benefits to people who are too lazy to work whilst the current system does not encourage them to do so. I applaud the Government for addressing this at long last.

Posted by: Alan Taylor

Child Benefit

As someone who wants to have children in the near future I have to say I don't think families should receive child benefit at all. If you can't afford to look after your own then don't do it.

Posted by: Mini Mi

Welfare state

I agree that child benefit is outdated - was designed for when men got paid on a Friday and spent it in the pub as Alan taylor says above - now I get my client fees and the FSA takes a large chunk, Then there's my PI who take a chunk, the running costs of my office take a chunk and putting diesel in my 8 year old car takes a chunk -by the time I get to the pub on a friday I've nothing left - maybe we should keep child benefit and how can I get £35k a year for doing B***** all - sounds good to me...

Posted by: Paul Burnsid

This Gravy train should stop now

Its all very well helping the needy but what about them helping themselves,its called getting a job, I have no hesitation in agreeing to my taxes being used to help genuine people who are suffering hardship through no fault of there own, but object strongly when my tax money is used to support irresponsible and lazy non patriotic people who are bleeding this country dry, I notice the BBC are still showing there same old bias, like the example of the woman on benefits, last night's news with 5 children, did she ever consider how she would support them,however its not the childrens fault,child benefit was brought in after the last war and was only paid for the second child, the idea was encourage people to have children after the war, We're "broke" and can't help our own Seniors, Veterans,or Orphans, Are you aware of the following?The British Government provides the following financial assistance: - BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER Weekly allowance £104. BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER Weekly Spouse allowance £25 BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER Additional weekly hardship allowance £0 BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT £6,000 The average pensioner has paid taxes and contributed to the growth of this country for the last 40 to 60 years, Sad isn't it. To sum up we pay nearly 5 times what the average pensioner receives to people that have never paid tax or contributed anything to the BRITISH economy and are never likely to OH BRITAIN, where did we go wrong?

Posted by: Geoff