The Childfree Lose Out… Again
11 08 2008Once again the Childfree get royally shafted. The unpopular Gordon Brown clearly seems to be living on a completely different planet from the rest of us, but that hasn’t stopped him from electioneering in grand style – if this story is to be believe. The fact that it came from an overheard conversation on a train might make one pause for thought, but the times story has garnered over 100 comments already. Check them out
Gordon Brown plans GBP150 bonus for parents.
Basically, Gordon Brown is planning on paying GBP 150 bonus (about $350) to everyone who currently received child benefit. Child benefit is paid to all families with children under 16 and older teenagers in full-time education. Around 7.5 million families. If this isn’t an electioneering bribe from a deeply unpopular PM I don’t know what it is. The bonus is meant to be a response to soaring fuel bills in the UK of recent. I have no issue with child benefit – it isn’t going away any time soon. But why should it be only these families who get a one-off bonus to offset high fuel bills. Presumably those who don’t have children don’t feel the costs of soaring fuel bills.
Injustice? Discriminatory? The clearest message yet that only those with children are deemed worthy of assistance. Either that or their votes are easily bought. If you’re single, childfree or if you’ve simply realised that having children is expensive and decided not to have them. Too bad – you’re going to be paying for other people to whom affordability of children never ranked in their decision to have them.
Lest we forget where GB will be getting this “one-off bonus” payment for the childed… it will be from your average tax payers. And with no dependents, no government benefits, no tax breaks and few, if any, perks (in other words self-sufficient working people) not only are we also paying for soaring full bills, and everything else, taxes are about to go up again. The money has to come from somewhere.
I’d say that Gordon Brown has stooped to a new low, but he hasn’t really. Every politician knows that when it comes to saving your political skin, a middle class “family-friendly” bribe never goes amiss. Childfree? Single? Pensioner? Too bad.
As Lisa from Newcastle said…
“What? I don’t have children, I am currently paying for others through my ridiculously high taxes and now I have to foot a bill for a further £150? When will there be a tax break/incentive for those who work themselves to the ground to just afford the roof over their ’single’ heads? Start with fuel…”
The best thing about the Times Online article? The fact that so many people who do not have children felt moved to comment on this latest and most stupid government bribe.
Gordon Brown plans GBP150 bonus for parents
Technorati Tags: Childfree
Oh yes, we heard this on the news over the weekend, and my husband and I are furious. We have no children (and no longer have any plans to), and while we are just about keeping our heads above water that £150 would come in very handy. Child benefit isn’t means-tested, so even the millionaire families are going to get the fuel allowance! It’s just one more example of how the “family” (which never includes families without children) is elevated as more worthy than all other domestic arrangements, and I am fed up with it.
I can tell you where he will get it from - earlier this year when he abolished the 10 pence tax band, and thus doubled the taxation level for approximately 10 million people, most of whom are single or childfree. That is, if he’s got any left over from having to pay us back a lump sum later this year.
I started a degree in Sociology last year and one of the long conversations I had in a tutor group was about the retarded idea that the UK government had on what a “Family” was. The group agreed that the Government had it wrong. Shame that no matter how much complaining we do, the Government don’t give a damn.
How do I put this tactfully???
Money for Spawning is BULLSHIT.
There.
Stepher
I think it also can motivate unresponsible parents to have more and more children just to get more money, especially if the bonus given based on the number of children. But, that’s just my own opinion.
I’ve been meaning to post about our “tax rebate” we recently received here in the United States. I work with a lot of parents. Some of whom received up to $2,000 and were talking about the TVs and game systems they were going to buy and all this other STUFF.
How much you wanna bet their STUFF is now broken and “left for dead?” Although, I’m sure retailers LOVE that because that means that the parunts will go out and buy MORE stuff to replace what has been destroyed.
While I like the fact that I got something, it helped me build a pretty bad ass computer ;-), it still rather pisses me off that parents got more money. And now McCain wants to give “families” a $7k tax credit for each child. Good grief!
Aussie childfree people have been footing the bill for our “Baby Bonus” for years. It is currently set at $5000 (yes, that is five THOUSAND) for each child born or adopted (yes, each child in a multiple birth. So if a woman has twins, she gets $10,000, triplets - $15,000, septuplets, she gets $35,000 etc, with no limits. Just for spawning these waste-producing, greenhouse-gas-creating miniature pooping machines), is not means tested (yes, even those parents on 7-figure-or-more incomes or multi-millionaires get this payment) and is indexed in line with a the CPI (cost of living increase) every July. Meanwhile, my husband pays more and more tax to cover theses additional costs - and we don’t get anything for NOT contributing to greenhouse gas emissions by NOT reproducing.
(Factual source: http://www.facs.gov.au/Internet/FAO/fao1.nsf/content/payments-maternity_payment)