Paying The 80%

[lankeela]

why is it up to £2,500 when many of us have to survive on minimum wage now and the rest of the time? Why should some get £2,500 when most of us get less than half of that? Making it 80% of minimum wage would save the country £££££s.

[pixie374]

Because people are not able to work through no fault of their own, or warning... and as the idea is to protect other people, it makes sense to give at least some help for people trying to do just that.

[bhg481]

People with high incomes are usually committed to high spending. I don't mean expensive food etc, which could be cut back on, but they have higher mortgages/rates etc which are fixed.

[Maydup]

I agree it was extremely generous, but it was designed to keep businesses in tact as well as keeping people solvent.

[fiction-factory]

Yes, I can see a case for limiting it to something like £1000 a month (since that is far better than nothing) but for some with families it could mean they are then entitled to benefits to supplement it (some families on benefits get far more than that in overall benefits inc housing benefit)- and it is only intended as a short term measure. And those earning more have paid more tax and NI so deserve more. Moreover they will probably have more commitments they can't change in the short term.
I'm assuming the 80% payments are taxable and NI able but I haven't seen anything on that.
This 80% thing could be hit and miss though- some employers who don't expect to restart have no incentive to go to the trouble of claiming.

[Old_Geezer]

If you have a certain salary then you probably are committed to certain costs at that level. You already have to cope with a 20% reduction like everyone else. More will be a greater hardship. But the big question is, where is the money coming from for months or years like this.

[ToraToraTora]

it's proportionate, people on higher income have higher bills, simples. £2500 is not high.

[chelle7272]

£2500 is not that high. Thankfully at the moment I can keep working but I were not able to and had only £1000 for example as suggested above, that would pay our rent only, no bills or food. Then I would have to be topped up with benefits anyway, even more complicated and probably not much cheaper for the goverment overall.

[fiction-factory]

The amounts involved are eye-watering.
I don't know how many will get it but if 10 million get on average £2000 per month that's £20 billion a month. If it lasts 3 months that's 60 billion. 6 months is more likely. This is on top of all the other stuff.
Assuming we get back to normality by next year I think those in work will end up paying much higher tax rates for a few years to pay for all of this