Every year my trade union Usdaw organises a national campaign day, called Spotlight Day. This year Spotlight Day is Wednesday 21 March. The theme of Spotlight Day varies from year to year but in 2012 Usdaw is using it to focus on raising awareness of the coalition’s cuts to welfare support for children and families – cuts that are set to hit Usdaw members particularly hard.
2012 is proving to be a difficult year for many people with changes to tax credits and cuts to other benefits coming on top of rising prices. Hours of work are also under pressure as growing numbers of employers are restructuring hours in response to changes in consumer spending and trading patterns. The changes to tax credits and other benefits are putting many household budgets under extra pressure at a time when they are already struggling to make ends meet.
From April, couples with children will have to increase their hours of work from 16 to 24 hours a week to retain their entitlement to tax credits. In the current economic climate negotiating extra working hours is particularly difficult. Many thousands of low-paid workers are set to lose much needed financial support in April at a time when they can least afford it.
New figures released today by Usdaw and the Child Poverty Action Group reveal that two-thirds of the families about to lose all of their working tax credit because they cannot find enough hours of work are already living in poverty. Thousands of Usdaw members are affected by this change and 78 per cent of them say that despite trying they simply can’t get the extra hours work they need to avoid losing their working tax credit.
So it’s not surprising that in the current economic climate more and more families are finding it difficult to make ends meet. If you are struggling to pay your bills, to keep up with credit card, loan or debt repayments, or are falling behind with your mortgage repayments or rent payments then don’t delay, get advice.
Being in debt or worrying about money can be very frightening. It is often difficult to talk to others or to ask for help because we tend to blame ourselves for our financial difficulties and feel guilty and ashamed. Debt can make you feel anxious, depressed, hopeless, isolated and alone. But if you are in debt or worried about money, it can sometimes help to understand that you aren’t alone. The nation’s network of Citizens Advice Bureaux are available to help and assist and their services are free!
For me this campaign demonstrates the vital role that trade unions continue to play in these difficult times. Reaching out to members and colleagues who have yet to join the union through the annual Spotlight Day in the workplace is just one way to show that they have a positive offer to working people when times are tough.
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Yvonne Fovargue is MP for Makerfield. She is the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on debt and personal finance and is a member of the Usdaw group of MPs in parliament.
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Find out more about Supporting Parents and Carers Spotlight Day here
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Writing in support of Spotlight Day today are Usdaw general secretay John Hannett, Usdaw MPs Hazel Blears and Yvonne Fovargue, Welsh AM and Janice Gregory and Islington councillor Kate Groucutt. Read them all here