Child Benefit and School Meals - Page 3

panther · 28-02-2008, 10:11

so if they replace child benefit with free school meals, what on earth is my son supposed to eat?...he hates school dinners but loves my sarnies!!
so not only will i have no child benefit, but my son has to go hungry too.....

emamum · 28-02-2008, 11:06

what about the families that already get free school dinners? would they get to keep their child benefit?

cashman · 28-02-2008, 11:13

if the arguement is based on getting kids to eat nutritional food,then for me its totally the "Wrong" way to go about it. the only way is to educate people not to blackmail/force people, or tell em what to do. all that tactic ever did for me was cause resistance.

jaysay · 28-02-2008, 11:17

I think that child benefit is a good thing but have always been of the oppinion that it should be more for the very needy and less for the better off. Take a couple who have income of say £70,000 per year(and there are quite a few in this dy and age) I have to ask do they really need child benefit, whilst people with only £20,000(and there are plenty of these) coming in probably need that bit more, I can remember some years ago some one I knew was going on holiday and went to PO to cash 8 weeks CB just for spending money, which highlights what I am saying

katex · 28-02-2008, 11:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

I think that child benefit is a good thing but have always been of the oppinion that it should be more for the very needy and less for the better off. Take a couple who have income of say £70,000 per year(and there are quite a few in this dy and age) I have to ask do they really need child benefit, whilst people with only £20,000(and there are plenty of these) coming in probably need that bit more, I can remember some years ago some one I knew was going on holiday and went to PO to cash 8 weeks CB just for spending money, which highlights what I am saying

I have always thought this way Jaysay, however, think the cost of means testing everyone would possibly overcome just paying it out to all parents ?
People also fall on bad times too so again the cost of putting in an application for Child Benefit could be horrendous .. and then you would have to have some sort of 'secret' checking by the Authorities like they do with other benefits.

There are lots of cases too where the main earner leaves their spouses with the children, neglecting to pay anything towards their upkeep, but at least the deserted spouse will have some immediate income. I have been in this position myself.

emamum · 28-02-2008, 11:43

is child benefit still taking out of your income support/ child tax credits as 'income'?

West Ender · 28-02-2008, 13:11

Child Benefit does not count as income for Tax Credit purposes. I don't know about Income Support but I would think it's the same.

emamum · 28-02-2008, 13:12

I know they used to... you'd get your award letter and it would say how much you were entitled to and then deduct your child benefit out of the total as income....

MargaretR · 28-02-2008, 13:56

You can check whether you are getting all your entitlement here-
entitledto
it covers ALL benefits and Housing benefits too

onlyme · 28-02-2008, 14:56

I'm a single working mum, and dont receive any benefits apart from Child benefit as I earn 'too much'. However, once taking into account childminders, house payments, gas, electric, council tax, food (and not a lot of that), my outgoings come to almost £1600 per month. I would financially be better off not working. The system is drastically wrong!

cashman · 28-02-2008, 15:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by onlyme

I'm a single working mum, and dont receive any benefits apart from Child benefit as I earn 'too much'. However, once taking into account childminders, house payments, gas, electric, council tax, food (and not a lot of that), my outgoings come to almost £1600 per month. I would financially be better off not working. The system is drastically wrong!

thats nowt new onlyme, it was wrong when mine were kids, so the whingers can't blame labour for this.

NO party has had the WILL to correct this Blatant Anomoly.

West Ender · 28-02-2008, 15:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by emamum23

I know they used to... you'd get your award letter and it would say how much you were entitled to and then deduct your child benefit out of the total as income....

I'd love to see your award notices, Em.

I was working on Tax Credits (on the Intelligence side) from when it started and Child Benefit, which is not a taxable benefit, only comes into the equation in that you can't claim CTC for a child you're not getting Child Benefit for.

What income counts
The income that counts is your taxable benefits, gross earnings from employment, taxable profits from self-employment, pension income, savings income and other taxable income. Income from savings or pensions (and a few other sources) only counts if it is over £300 a year in total; the first £300 is ignored.
Both your incomes count if you are claiming jointly as a couple. Rules on what counts as income can be complex, so check the notes that go with your tax credit form and seek advice if you are unsure.
There is no limit on the savings or capital you can have, and no reduction to your award, except that interest and other income earned from the capital is taken into account.
Your income figure needs to be for the whole tax year (6 April in one calendar year to 5 April in the next). If you are an employee, you should receive a year-end statement of income from your employer (form P60). The figure to use for tax credits is your gross income before tax and National Insurance. If you get benefits, the DWP should give you a statement of taxable benefits at the end of the tax year. Not all benefits are taxable so not all benefits count as income for tax credits. If you are self-employed, you normally use the figure from your self-assessment tax return.

lancsdave · 28-02-2008, 15:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by onlyme

I'm a single working mum, and dont receive any benefits apart from Child benefit as I earn 'too much'. However, once taking into account childminders, house payments, gas, electric, council tax, food (and not a lot of that), my outgoings come to almost £1600 per month. I would financially be better off not working. The system is drastically wrong!

It's one of the problems of income based assessments. They assume everybody has the same expenditure to enable them to work.

emamum · 28-02-2008, 16:07

it was before they seperated it and you got income support for yourself and children....

blazey · 28-02-2008, 18:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by onlyme

I'm a single working mum, and dont receive any benefits apart from Child benefit as I earn 'too much'. However, once taking into account childminders, house payments, gas, electric, council tax, food (and not a lot of that), my outgoings come to almost £1600 per month. I would financially be better off not working. The system is drastically wrong!

Judging by your outgoings, I'm assuming you probably live in a reasonably warm house in a decent area, and if you didn't work you'd be much less likely to have that luxury regardless of being better off financially. You're child or children would probably also have a high chance of also having a similar attitude and no parent wants their children to end up like that, though of course not all do end up with that kind of attitude.

As far as I am aware, the scheme doesn't take into account your living costs as generally you'd have to pay for those kind of things regardless of having children. They only take into account the cost of feeding and clothing a child as far as I've always been aware, which to be fair is no where near met with the amount of child benefits you are awarded, but I think it's a fair scheme, there just isn't enough money to hand out, mainly because there are a lot of people claiming benefits that they shouln't be.