Saturday, March 15, 2008
Poverty of delivery
Just when you thought that we had a government which was committed to tackling poverty, they have to step in and dash all of our hopes.
The Times reports that the reality of recent budgets is that, far from helping low paid workers, they will be worse off. This is not really news, it was predicted this time last year by the Liberal Democrats in the budget debate itself, but the figures are sobering nevertheless.
The paper tells us that more than 1.8 million low-paid workers face losing 60p more for every extra £1 they earn as a result of tax changes that come into effect next month. They say that the scrapping of the 10p starting rate of income tax and the clawing back of tax credits from those earning more than £6,420 will actually deepen the poverty gap.
Figures included in this week’s Budget show that the numbers now subject to tax rates equivalent to 60 per cent or more will exceed 1.8 million in the coming year, compared with 760,000 a decade ago. According to former Transport Secretary, Stephen Byers, poorly paid people are facing a reduction in their income of over 60 per cent — higher than millionaires who are paying 40 per cent income tax.
The Government has unveiled a number of schemes, which it says will help to lift people out of poverty, but whilst the tax and benefits system is stacked against them, the chances are that they will have only minimal impact.
The Times reports that the reality of recent budgets is that, far from helping low paid workers, they will be worse off. This is not really news, it was predicted this time last year by the Liberal Democrats in the budget debate itself, but the figures are sobering nevertheless.
The paper tells us that more than 1.8 million low-paid workers face losing 60p more for every extra £1 they earn as a result of tax changes that come into effect next month. They say that the scrapping of the 10p starting rate of income tax and the clawing back of tax credits from those earning more than £6,420 will actually deepen the poverty gap.
Figures included in this week’s Budget show that the numbers now subject to tax rates equivalent to 60 per cent or more will exceed 1.8 million in the coming year, compared with 760,000 a decade ago. According to former Transport Secretary, Stephen Byers, poorly paid people are facing a reduction in their income of over 60 per cent — higher than millionaires who are paying 40 per cent income tax.
The Government has unveiled a number of schemes, which it says will help to lift people out of poverty, but whilst the tax and benefits system is stacked against them, the chances are that they will have only minimal impact.
