Budget 2012 case study: The whole family will miss out – and the babysitter

FIONA Pratt, a mother of four, will lose her £240 monthly child benefit entirely, following the Chancellor’s announcement that the allowance will be cut entirely for families in which one parent earns £60,000 or more.

Mrs Pratt, 42, runs two Bibi’s Bakery cupcake shops in Edinburgh and St Andrews while her husband Richard, also 42, is a self-employed builder. They live in Elie, Fife, with their children Digby, nine, Poppy, seven, Christabelle, six and Indigo, three.

Mrs Pratt said: “It’s really disappointing. The biggest impact for us is that our extra disposable income will disappear. We get around £240 every four weeks.

“When you really sit down and think about it we will be losing about £3,000 a year after tax. The income tax bracket we’re talking about is before tax. That puts it in real terms.

“It will mean that the extras will go. We tended to use the money for family day trips or to pay a babysitter.

“So to an extent it will stop us going out as a family or a couple and also means the babysitter will lose out.”

Mrs Pratt said she felt the decision was unfair on families. “I can see why the Chancellor’s done it and it was almost inevitable,” she said. “But I think it’s quite a low starting point.

“I suppose the Chancellor felt that, because he was dropping the tax at the higher end, there had to be a quid pro quo elsewhere, giving something and taking something away.

“It’s just unfortunate people with children are being penalised. It’s children who will provide the future. People should be having children, not facing lots of deterrents.”

SHÂN ROSS