Well my quick post this am on my way out to a meeting (3 bus rides & 5 train journeys!!) had many people emailing me their views and some great comments. Since I rushed to post the info on Simon Cowell’s tax bill and I’ve been meaning to get around to posting my views on tax, I decided there was no time like the present.
Paying tax is a very good thing indeed. The services that are provided through the tax system, particularly here in the UK are world class. We have an excellent free health care system where no one has to fundraise to pay for cancer treatment, or sell their house because their child has epilepsy. We have some exceptional schools, wonderful community health & social care services, council services and support. Yes, there are times I feel ill looking at the tax I pay, but then I remember that I can pick up a telephone and dial 999 and the police, fire or ambulance services will assist me. All of this is exceptional, and I would rather pay £100 or £200 more a month to insure this, then ever ever risk having to fund my own health care or have people go bankrupt or into debt to pay for their health services.
Having said all that, let’s be honest there are people who abuse the system. No matter what the tabloids report, I do believe those people are in the minority and I do believe that welfare should be available because at the end of the day people do lose their jobs, people do become ill, people deserve compassion and support.
There are days, like yesterday, where I meet up with friends and for a moment, my belief in our public system goes out the window, a bit like the example My Eco Self shared in the previous post’s comments. I have two friends who despite good educations and ability have chosen to live on benefits. One of these friends brings home over £1500 a month, has very low rent (£250) and in the last three years has holidayed in Australia, USA and France 4x. She has the latest mobile telephone, SKY tv, a car, free daycare 3 days a week (so she gets a break), enjoys free courses (tapestry, french, first aid, computers) all paid for by the state. When they decide they want another baby, they just have it, no thought about saving up first because as my friend says “we know the benefits system means we will get an increase”. My aunt & uncle are the same, neither work and haven’t done in years, they enjoy holidays, get grants to decorate their home, have free transport etc. There are days, and I’ll admit this because I am human, that I see my friends who work like dogs on minimum wage who get next to no support and I think of myself scrimping and saving, for example only spending £13-£15 on groceries, having no mobile telephone etc and while I’m proud of that and very happy to do it, it does honestly mean that the fact that I have friends and family members who say to me they don’t believe in saving because the state will always take care of them gets to me.
Having said ALL of that, I still firmly believe in our public system, I still support the welfare & support that is available, I believe those examples above are the minority and I take exceptional comfort in knowing that if I fell, was attacked, or had a baby our wonderful services would be there. I take comfort in knowing there is no one waiting in my local hospital because they can’t afford treatment, I take comfort knowing there is no one chosing between eating or paying for medicine.
Last week a post by Deepali stuck a cord with me and as I was typing this post I remembered:
$500 to $1,200: the fee that Wasilla charged rape victims to pay for post-sexual assault medical exams, after the city cut funds
And I hope, every time I see 1 bad example of our system I remember just how fortunate we are. So I hope at the end of this month I will simply smile as I see the little box saying how much tax I’ve paid! I’ll let you know if I do!
If i lived in the UK i too would be very supportive of the tax system. I know the taxes there are awfully high, but there are excellent services, as you have duly noted. Here in the states i really am at a loss for where this tax money goes, besides Bush’s war over in Iraq. It is terrible. You see so many poor & old people in need of health care services- and no programs to help them cover their bills. Public services here are in a sorry state.
One thing I found really surprising was that after we were married my husband’s tax bill (I am still in school and so not earning at the moment) was reduced by 40%! just for getting married!
So not only are taxes in the US falling into that black hole that is the Iraq war but they are also being used to condone the patriarchal institution of marriage, giving heterosexual people an advantage over those who chose alternative lifestyles.
It is embarrassing, really. Obviously all this will put americans on the wrong side of history in the end, and the anti-gay legislation and perks for heterosexuals will go the way the way of Jim Crow, filed away as a national embarrasment that no one wants to talk about anymore.
I have friends like this too – drives me mad! There’s no dignity in living like that though, no matter what they think their entitlement is.
One of my favourite poems, ‘Toads Revisited’ by Philip Larkin, sums up my views on this pretty well.
Being Canadian, I also live in a country with accessable “universal” healthcare, and available welfare for those in need, and a top knotch emergency system! I hear from friends (that have experienced it) that your British system is better even than Canada’s so you should be proud to pay taxes, for sure! I have also followed the blog of a young mom in the US, and I don’t envy the decisions she has to make regarding doctor’s visits and other treatments… too expensive for the average working family, it is a sad condition if you ask me.
I know people that abuse the system, I know people that are being abused BY the system, it is not perfect, but I am thankful like you, that it is there at all.
As you know, because of my health problems I’m on benefits now and I absolutely hate being dependent on the state. I feel as though they’re always looking over my shoulder and really can’t understand why anybody would choose to live that way rather than make their own living whilst adding something positive to society. Still, it takes all sorts.
Like you, I still believe that our system is one of the best in the world (although I have experienced better). The NHS saved my life and now I’m kept alive at a cost of £120 a day. Where would that come from if we didn’t pay tax? The medical team at the specialist clinic I attend are amazing and should anything ever go wrong, I know I won’t be turned away because I can’t pay.
Our state education system could be better but at least we know that however much money we have, our children can receive an education up to college level without having to pay a penny for it (other than indirectly, obviously).
It’s a fair system and one I wouldn’t want to see disappear.
Hmmm, interesting post.
I do believe in the tax system but have never forgotten working on a very low wage and doing an hours overtime to find I was a lot worse off than if I hadn’t worked that extra hour!
Those on poor wages should have to pay little tax and they shouldn’t be clobbered if they work a little overtime to try to pay an extra bill or whatever.
All in all though I do believe in the taxation system.
Charging a rape victim is horrific!! What a vile thing to do…. So only a well off rape victim will be able to pay and a poor one won’t be able to afford to collect evidence!
since were on the topic of healthcare one of the main differences between Canada and the UK (and Europe) is that in the UK you have the option of priviate healthcare. In Canada private healthcare is banned.
And of taxes one of the most interesting inconsistencies is the fact that the poor often get heavily penalized for working.
Often people on welfare and such ink “can’t afford” to work as they will lose all there benifits. Have a friend who’s daughter is in that situation. In order to be eligible for health care and cheap tuition she has to limit her working hours. It’s almost impossible for her to get ahead (at least till she graduates)
just noticed Sharie’s comment above, point proven.
I agree with every word in your post!
I have to say I particularly agree with “that I see my friends who work like dogs on minimum wage who get next to no support “.
I work for close to minimum wage. I’d love to be able to go to many of the adult education courses held locally (sewing, art, first aid etc) but most of them start at £50 (whereas they’re free if you can’t be bothered to get a job … (oh and 80% of them – including french, spanish, italian, dressmaking, embroidery, excel) are on during working hours only .. clearly only the retired and unemployed want to learn.).
I’d also love to take a Microsoft Excel course (£350 for a basic course and exam) or Sage Accounting, in order to improve my job prospects, but I simply do not have £350 (all my spare pennies go into trying to reduce my CC debt).
I too fully support our benefits system – but I find it incredibly annoying that someone who gets benefits gets many things free, whereas if you work bloody hard on minimum wage and have the same amount of spare cash (very little) you get jack sh*t.
I strongly disagree with Your comments re the NHS. Do you know that people are dying in this country because the NHS wont pay for life saving drugs? People who have worked and paid taxes all their lives. Are you aware that thousands of people get ill from staying in filthy hospitals, dirty hospitals as a resut of the NHS contracting out cleaning to the lowest bidders possible? Are you aware of all the negligence cases which exist against stupid ill trained doctors? And as for the management of chronic illnesses help from the NHS is a joke, pysio, counselling prescription charges etc you have to pay for it yourself or wait forever for third world treatment, honestly, I have to say that if i had the money and needed to go into hospital i would rather spend the money and have treatment privately rather than risk an NHS hospital, its a Joke!
Claire thanks for your comment!
I agree that there are some very terrible cases and I know that because I have wo.rked in the NHS, I have used the NHS and I know people who’ve had a bad experience. But, for every person who has a bad experience there are hundreds that don’t.
I took a class where we learned that if you had unlimited insurance/money of course what is available in the US is world class, but for a public system we have some amazing services and support.
I agree, that there are some horrific cases, I remember watching, I think it was Panorama about midwifery care and it was absolutely appauling. Unforgiveable. Sickening in fact.
I think what is increasingly difficult is the post code lottary that exists.
Having said all that, I know people who have been made homeless after their child got meningitis in the US…
Thanks for your comment!
Sarah – I’m so sorry, I wish there was more sliding support for people based on income. I know when I worked for a service it used to annoy me greatly that the “working poor” got no reductions and yet often had less then families not working. I used to try to find any way possible to help them.
Sharie it is horrific, makes me feel sick in fact re rape victims.
Yes, the working poor is something that I find exceptionally upsetting and yes often it is simply not worth their working an extra hr or two.
Rob – so true!