Low Income Mothers To Lose £1,200

By Alison Steed

MOTHERS on low wages will lose £1,200 a year thanks to the changes announced in the Budget, according to the TUC.

From April 2011, the Sure Start Maternity Grant will only be available for the first child in a family, which means anyone having a second child will lose out on £500.

The Health In Pregnancy Grant – worth £190 to anyone who was pregnant – has been abolished, while the Baby Element of Child Tax Credits has been cut. This gave a payment of £545 a year to families receiving Child Tax Credits with a child under one.

In addition, the previous Government's introduction of a new Tax Credit for low income families will not go ahead. This Toddler Tax Credit would have provided an extra £4 a week for families with children aged one or two. This is essentially a further cut of £208.

The Child Tax Credit is being raised by £150 above inflation for a year, so low income families with older children will get a slight increase in their incomes. However, Child Benefit has been frozen for three years, and the Child Trust Fund has already been cut. But that is likely to be offset by the rising costs to families thanks to VAT rising from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent from January 4.

Child Benefit has also been frozen for three years - which will mean a significant reduction in its real terms value. And of course the Child Trust Fund has already been cut.

Those who will be hardest hit by these policies are therefore the lowest income families with very young children, and middle income families with children who find their Tax Credit eligibilility has been reduced as a result of the eligibility thresholds being lowered.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said: “The claim is that this is a fair and progressive budget. Try telling that to those poor mothers who will lose more than £1,200 as a result of today's announcements.”