The national dialogue about what cuts are needed/necessary and who they should be targeted at is varied with some approaching it from an ideological perspective, others from a “fairness” perspective and others from a purely economic perspective. The one point of consensus seems to be that we need to protect the most vulnerable in society.
My question is who are the most vulnerable in society?
From listening to politicians they seem to agree that they are the unemployed and the elderly.
I disagree; I think that the most vulnerable are middle income earners with relatively big mortgages. To be more specific, young(ish) middle income earning married couples with young children. These are the people just within the tax net who have massive relative fixed costs. They are usually both working (public and/or private sector) so they have crèche/childminding fees on top of their mortgage, insurance and utility bills.
Household income can be quite high but disposable income will be very low. They are not the low paid but they are not the high paid either. They are the people who pay a massive proportion of their income in tax (a family on €80’000 a year pay 5 times as much income tax as a family on €40’000 a year). They are the engine of the economy, the engine that provides the revenue for the needs of society. They are just about surviving so why are they also the easy target?
Maybe the consensus shouldn’t be the consensus.
My question is who are the most vulnerable in society?
From listening to politicians they seem to agree that they are the unemployed and the elderly.
I disagree; I think that the most vulnerable are middle income earners with relatively big mortgages. To be more specific, young(ish) middle income earning married couples with young children. These are the people just within the tax net who have massive relative fixed costs. They are usually both working (public and/or private sector) so they have crèche/childminding fees on top of their mortgage, insurance and utility bills.
Household income can be quite high but disposable income will be very low. They are not the low paid but they are not the high paid either. They are the people who pay a massive proportion of their income in tax (a family on €80’000 a year pay 5 times as much income tax as a family on €40’000 a year). They are the engine of the economy, the engine that provides the revenue for the needs of society. They are just about surviving so why are they also the easy target?
Maybe the consensus shouldn’t be the consensus.