I may be missing something here but why isn't child benefit means tested. And a benefit that you apply for, rather than getting automatically.
When we decided to put tot into daycare, we applied for child tax credits. Filled in many forms. Produced much evidence. Then got nowt as hubby earned slightly too much. But well, that was fair I guess. So surely the same system can be used to figure out who gets child benefit. Making people apply for it rather than receiving it automatically is bound to reduce the amount paid out.
4 comments:
Hi PM I have just posted about this as well. I can see the logic/madness in all and sundry receiving it as if you live in Chiswick your husband earns in excess of a million and you have 5 children do you really need an additional X amount a month! Similarly it shouldn't be an incentive for young mothers on benefits to see it as a way of getting more money...I do think the 44k/86k split is madness.
Personally I would prefer more money to be able to send my child to nursery. It would be far more benefit for both of us and more financial assistance towards that would be a big help.
of course rich people should get benefits, it might make them think twice about dodging their tax (i say this because i'm quite astonished by some of the contractors i meet at parties who like to boast about how much tax they are avoiding!)
PB - yes, agree.
Hilly - you are funny. What kind of parties do you go to? I do remember vaguely at school being told it's your duty to avoid paying tax but it's illegal to evade paying. Maybe they go by that ethos?
The kind of parties i go to are the kind where people get drunk and show off; fairly normal, no?
i'd probably have more interesting stories if i went out with artists and freedom fighters, but those flashy corporate types don't half get around. You even get them in shooters hill!
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