Middle-earners 'struggling' over schools bonus cap

Middle income families who are struggling with the cost of living are being "failed" by the government, a Jersey parent has said.

It comes as families have shared frustration that a means-tested benefit to help buy school supplies has not been made available island-wide.

Mum of two Lisa McCabe said not being able to access the back to school bonus was a "kick in the teeth" for working parents just above the income threshold.

The social security minister said she would review the back to school bonus ahead of next year and that the government was looking at ways to make life more affordable for parents in Jersey.

McCabe runs a private health screening clinic in Jersey.

She said "every day" she was seeing parents struggling with the cost of raising a family in Jersey: "There's the level of stress and burnout from people who are on what would have been considered very good wages a few years ago that just aren't making ends meet."

She said many middle-earners in the island had been squeezed by an increase in interest rates and the end of mortgage interest tax relief for homeowners.

For many working parents, she said, this was made worse by expensive nursery fees and the cost of covering children's hot lunches and after school clubs.

"There are some really difficult decisions to be made," she said.

McCabe said it was not a case of taking benefits away from anybody who needed them, but that the lack of government support for middle-earning families was a "serious problem".

She said: "I think it is a huge failing on the government's part to not consider this middle bracket where people are really really struggling."

She said parents not eligible for the back to school bonus were particularly frustrated that the benefit was cash, and that where it was spent was not audited by the government.

"If they had done it as vouchers I don't think it would have received the same backlash," she said.

"It's that good idea, it's that good initiative, but the practicalities, the logistics and the perception isn't quite thought through."

Social security minister Elaine Millar said the back to school bonus scheme was a pilot and the government would review how well it had worked and whether it had reached the right people before deciding to continue it next year.

Millar said she was reassessing the "benefit landscape" and had committed to meeting charity leaders who have called for a dedicated taskforce to tackle poverty on the island.

She said: "I think it's important that we really understand the size and scale of the problem.

"Children from low income families should be being supported by income support."

Millar said the whole framework of support for families needed to be looked at but warned that help had to be targeted.

"If we were to massively increase our income support budget that might mean everybody else having to pay more tax including those who are on income support," she said.

However, Millar made it clear that raising taxes was "not on anybody's agenda".

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