''Should we means test child benefit?''
The
government has talked about this issue many times, and on Thursday the
19th of July the IMF said yes, means test it!!!! But is it the right
decision? That is the question.
As it stands,
child benefit is a universal payment made to all children regardless of
parental income. Is this a good thing? I think yes, it shows we value
all children, and we are investing in their well being and supporting
our future tax payers. It shows that we value all children equally,
regardless of social standing, and this should remain so.
But why should the rich get it I hear you ask!! Now before
you all say yes, remove it from those that do not need it, let's think
about this and look at the bigger picture. What will this achieve? How
rich do you need to be? If we look at the very rich in the country with
children their number is very small, so will it save the money the
government want to save? No.... so they will have to lower the bar to
include more people. The consequences of this will be that
people who need it will lose it, at a time when the cost of living is
still very high in Ireland, where childcare costs are on a par with the
cost of paying back a mortgage, so that many will give up work as they
can no longer afford childcare, to me this is a backward move as the
government will lose out on tax revenue and the potential job losses
that could affect creches and childminders as well will result in less
tax and increased dole queues. It will create poverty traps and widen
the poverty bracket.
This would reverse
the progressive moves that were made in recent years to reduce poverty
levels by increasing the amount paid. Some will argue that this may not
be the best way to target poverty levels, but gains were made
nonetheless.
Now let's look at the rate of
child benefit. We are always told that child benefit is very high in
comparison with our EU counterparts and the rest of the world, when the
government is trying to justify cuts. Let's see if it is really that
good...
Child benefit is the ONLY payment made
towards children in this country, if we look at what other countries
invest, we can see that they receive a payment like child benefit, but
ALSO children are recognised in the tax system ( in Ireland you can get a
tax break for a race horse but not for a child) subsidized childcare,
free health care and education. Will we see the government moving to be
more like this and bringing us up to standard? Again no, I think this
is a revenue collecting exercise, and no reinvestment will happen in the
foreseeable future. So by agreeing to means testing I can not help but
feel we are cutting off our nose to spite our face.
Instead of
removing money from children, should we not take a look at their
parents' income, and ensure they are paying the right rate of tax. Also
it's long overdue to include recognising children in our tax system.
Many
groups have completed documents comparing Ireland to other EU
countries, and have found us substandard and below par, the OECD has
said we need to do more, and surveys run by the department of pensions
in the UK rated us very low compared to other countries. That was in
2008 before the cuts, so I would say we are further down the list now.
Below are some links supporting this :
OECD links
http://www.oecd.org/document/
The
above link is to a survey comparing child benefit packages in 22
countries, compiled by the Dept of Work and Pensions in the UK. It was
subsequently validated and used by the Australian authorities to benchmark their package.
The key data is summarised at the start, pages 1 to 13.
The
conclusion on page 13 is also key, it puts the countries into 4 groups
ranked in descending order (Leaders, 2nd, 3rd, Laggards). Ireland is in
the 3rd group. The main reason for this is the high cost of rearing
children and the dearth of services for children
Also National women's council of Ireland
I could go on, there is a very long list of documentation supporting the idea of doing more for our children.
I
am also wondering why was it not suggested that the government take a
pay cut or abolish unvouched expenses and ensure receipts are handed in
before handing over monies. We have failed miserably in
protecting children in this state, and this was the one area where we
have made progress, yet now we will regress and move backwards. An old
saying goes'' invest in a child invest in a nation."
The government should remember that before touching child benefit again.
By Niamh Kelly PACUB member
Links :
Sign the petition set up by Annemarie http://www.causes.com/causes/795632-don-t-touch-our-child-benefit-irish-government/actions/1689390
March on the 13 of October in Navan with Cassandra https://www.facebook.com/events/277349175710042/?ref=ts&fref=ts
March on the 3rd of November at 2 pm with Hazel https://www.facebook.com/events/366657730075486/368721499869109/?comment_id=368723886535537&ref=notif¬if_t=event_mall_reply
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