As you may have seen plastered all over the news and papers the Government is rather chuffed with itself for giving us lesser mortals and ‘step up’. From 1st April ( and no its no April Fool joke) all workers aged 25 and over now legally entitled to at east £7.20 per hour. Apparently its an extra 50p in our pockets.
Well it will be if your not on benefits of any sort as the increase ( dont forget you have to notify them of your wage increase) would be taken off any benefits you get. So not quiet an extra 50p in your pocket. More like 50p being made to look like its saved the world when instead its decreased the benefits bill. Its just a number game.
Or the fact that not all employers are huge corporations that can pass on the increase or afford to swallow it. I work for a little corner shop. 16 hours a week ( this is all I can commit to for an employer due to the M.E) does me fine. But wait its only a little one man band. They cant put the prices up as they would loose valuable customers. So they are reducing our hours. I can completely understand them doing this as the other alternative is breaking the law. So yay we all get to keep our jobs but on less hours. But wait its not all good news. Now I am in the position that I am also self employed working for the best boss ever, me, when my M.E allows. So I do still work over 16 hours a week. Why is that magic number of 16 hours important? That’s the magic number you have to be working to be entitled to working tax credits. Under 16 hours you get diddly squat and have to sign on and prove your looking for more hours.
So if I wasn’t self employed I would have just gone under the threshold and would now be over £50 a week worse off from the so called wage increase. I’d be classed as unemployed too.
So is anyone actually better off and I mean really better off and actually seeing more money in their purse?
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