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Kate Taylor

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Kate Taylor is a sociologist, mother and tea and cake lover. When not working in sociological and marketing research with her company, Galilee Research, Kate can be found talking about political philosophy on the school run.


Yesterday saw the autumn budget presented by chancellor Phillip Hammond and the outcome was… well, aggressively mediocre to say the least.

There were some good points, young people rejoiced at the introduction of a new railcard for 26 – 30 year olds, stamp duty has been cut for houses under £300,000 and the minimum wage will go up in April from £7.50 to £7.83 an hour. These are all great, but not without caveats when looked at a little closer.

Said railcard will be useless for rush hour as it’s only available off-peak… not brilliant for getting those pesky millennials to work; the stamp duty cut is a nice touch (although it equates to a couple of grand), but only if people are in a position to buy in the first place.

A minimum wage rise should never be sniffed at, but at the beginning of the month the real living wage went up to over ten pounds in London and £8.75 outside it. How on Earth are we supposed to build a prospering society, insisting ‘work pays’, when we can’t even be guaranteed enough money to live in it?

Universal Credit has been given £1.5bn to address ‘concerns’ with its roll-out; this includes advances in benefits and cutting new claim times from 6 to 5 weeks.

Professor Jill Rubery, speaking to OpenLearn, said: “It is not clear why these basic rights were not built into the initial plan unless it is evidence of neglect of the needs of benefit claimants. The plan seems to be to prevent the system itself attracting criticism, probably in the hope that the general public will not care so much about the cuts being introduced or the flexibility provided for employers to offer whatever hours they wish.”

Meanwhile fuel duty has been frozen but new diesel car owners will be paying more in the first year on their road tax than petrol cars due to environmental factors, which is another debate entirely.

The freeze stretches to duty on alcohol, minus some high-strength drinks; so if you have a penchant for a bottle of White Lightning or Frosty Jacks on an evening then you’ll be paying more (I’m not actually sure if they still exist but in fairness last time I saw anything like that at a house party we were drinking MD:20/20 and got excited when Bacardi Breezers came out).

The same could be said for tobacco products, with rolling tobacco receiving a further 1% price hike over cigarettes. Yes, the health benefits in both cases *may* be worse but more than anything it’s another example of the ‘poor tax’. In other words, being taxed for products predominantly used by lower class communities and those living below the poverty line.

There’s also a rise in pensions of 3%, but that works out at under a fiver a week which isn’t exactly changing lives.

The problem with Hammond’s second budget is that there’s no substance. Yes, there are promises to build new houses, but this is notoriously difficult to accomplish and there’s not enough guideline on social housing statistics.

In education there will be extra money per pupil for those taking maths or further maths at A-Level, to the tune of a staggering £177m. Another £40m will go to under performing schools for teacher training (working out at a grand per teacher).

As someone whose partner has been a teacher for fifteen years, I can tell you that:  a) training, unless for new teachers/teaching staff, is (for the most part) about as useful as a chocolate fireguard, and b) like the rest of the money set out for education, it could be used SO much more affectively – perhaps talking to some *actual* teachers might help?

It feels like overall, this budget is written lip service to appease the masses whilst they divert attention from Brexit. It will be interesting to see how negotiations affect things on the run up to April’s budget. 

Kate Taylor is a sociologist, mother and tea and cake lover. When not working in sociological and marketing research with her company, Galilee Research, Kate can be found talking about political philosophy on the school run.

The autumn budget will take place on the 22nd of this month, in the meantime the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) have released their latest projections for poverty in Great Britain.

They have predicted that relative child poverty will increase from 30% to 37% by 2021, leaving millions of children to live in poor conditions. The problem with child poverty (aside from the obvious) is it has far reaching affects into the future. It means the next generation are less likely to receive an adequate education and more likely to enter into crime thanks to peer pressure and financial strains. If we are to protect the future, changing this must be a top priority.

It has been proven that one of the biggest reasons for this increase is due to the continued changes in benefits and tax credits. Said changes will see the Government save approximately £3 billion per year – but at what cost?

With Brexit negotiations underway, prices for food and other goods become more expensive, though the pound is holding well after last Friday’s trading fears that it will drop by around 5% before Christmas are being heard. Hopefully PM Theresa May can make progress and mitigate any fears, thus continuing talks to keep Britain afloat with successful trade deals.

In April the ‘two child element’ was introduced, meaning any child born into a family of at least two children already will not be eligible for further child benefit or child tax credits, this also applies to Universal Credit which was introduced in Lincolnshire in 2015.

The firstborn child also no longer receives a premium, they are entitled to the same amount as the second child. Said ‘family element’ has also been dissolved – those who choose to stay at home with their offspring will have to enter into a job finding scheme when their child is one, with the aim of having them in work by the time the child is three.

This process could be, in theory, a supportive framework helping people gaining employment, but as it stands there are so many loopholes, from insane sanctions to regulatory bodies with more grant money then sense.

The ‘two child element’ also shockingly applies to housing benefit, which one can only presume could lead to families with three or more children living in two bedroom accommodation, regardless of age or gender.

One piece of good news is that the hours of free childcare has doubled for those in work and earning a minimum of 16 hours minimum wage, and those who don’t fit that criteria still receive the 15 free hours.

There is a maximum earnings limit…at £100,000. The Government have preached about saving money and decreasing the deficit, so why on earth are we budgeting free childcare for those earn nearly six figures?

This has ripped apart the safety net our country created a century ago. The welfare state has become a tool to mock the poor, elderly and disabled; with horror stories in their thousands being told every day.

Universal Credit itself isn’t a bad idea; the inclusive nature means more people will receive all the benefits they’re entitled to, but it needs ironing out. Civil servants/private contractors should spend less time crucifying people for not being in work and more time helping them out of abject poverty – and unfortunately finding employment isn’t enough to pull people out of poverty and debt.

Lincoln has the highest crime rating in the county, which could be attributed to the fact it’s a city, but it has higher poverty-stricken areas unlike outer towns and villages; and unfortunately, where there’s poverty there’s crime.

Since last year crime has risen, particularly anti-social behaviour. Time and again we have seen that with financial crisis there comes social unrest. Though on the surface it may look like youths being an unruly pain, behind it there is always a reason.

The government, both locally and nationally, have a greater responsibility than ever; the autumn budget is due on the 22nd and we await with baited breath in the hope our Chancellor has a plan to tackle the increasingly impossible situation low-income households have been put in.

Kate Taylor is a sociologist, mother and tea and cake lover. When not working in sociological and marketing research with her company, Galilee Research, Kate can be found talking about political philosophy on the school run.

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