Blog: The chancellor should look again at the impact of NI tax hike

British households are facing a financial crisis, with living standards set to see the biggest drop in 50 years. But the cost of living is not the only thing on the up: the cost of working is getting more expensive too. There are rising costs for simply doing your job – whether it’s the commute, childcare, using a vehicle for work, car-parking or taxes and, after more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts, public sector workers are being left seriously out of pocket. Today, the cost of working will increase significantly for millions of workers across the UK. If you work and earn over £9,880 per year, you pay national insurance (NI), which increases by 1.25% today. Slimmer pay packets, combined with rising costs of pretty much everything, will feel very difficult for UNISON members. The NI rise was announced last autumn as part of the government’s plan to raise billions for the NHS and social care. But there are much fairer ways to raise the extra cash, without leaving 29 million workers worse off. How about a windfall tax on profits made by big energy companies, or clawing back the billions of pounds given away by the government in dodgy contracts throughout the pandemic? This tax increase is only one extra pressure on the cost of working. Families can’t work without childcare and, as parents face higher childcare costs, mothers are far more likely to stay at home because going to work is just unaffordable. There are 870,000 stay-at-home mothers who want to go ba...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: General secretary's blog Christina McAnea cost of living Source Type: news