The 3 reasons I’m seriously angry with the Chancellor about the Budget (as a self-employed working mum) - The Mirror

The Chancellor celebrated the success of women and joked with the Prime Minister about how much their lot had improved as part of his Budget, but his later actions revealed the truth

As a working mum I’m angry with the Chancellor over his latest Budget, and the insultingly small giveaways he’s offering to those struggling to juggle part-time or full-time hours with childcare needs.

As a self-employed working mum I’m doubly angry with him over his treatment of those who are trying to earn a decent living working for themselves.

And to top the lot, the fact this betrayal of working mums (and in particular those who are self-employed) has fallen on International Women’s Day makes me really rather incensed.

Why I’m angry as a working mum

As a working mum with an 11-month-old daughter, I was hoping for some Budget announcements on childcare that will make a real difference to our family finances.

While the Chancellor confirmed that the new Tax-Free Childcare scheme will begin next month, offering working families £2,000 a year towards the cost of childcare for each child under 12 – and that the free childcare entitlement for three-and-four-year-olds will double to 30 hours a week from September – I can’t help thinking that all of this feels like a drop in the ocean.

Admittedly, my husband and I are fortunate to get a lot of help with childcare from family members – including 1.5 days a week of “granny-daycare".

But even with this free help, the cost of a part-time nursery place does not come cheap.

In fact, new findings from the Family and Childcare Trust reveal that families now have to pay £116 per week – or more than £6,000 a year – for a part-time nursey place (25 hours a week).

And in the capital (where we live), costs are even higher, with parents in London handing over a massive £154 per week – a third more than the national average.

As Rachel Carrell from recently-launched nanny-share website, Korukids.co.uk , so accurately describes it: “Despite the new measures, the cost of childcare will remain a huge challenge for parents.

"The Tax-Free Childcare scheme only addresses a fraction of the cost of childcare, and the 30 free hours could be difficult for parents to actually access.”

So, while there are new measures coming into play, they just don’t get anywhere close to solving the childcare/working mum conundrum.

Why I’m angry as a self-employed working mum

As if it weren’t bad enough discovering there is little in the Budget for working mums, I was then dealt another blow with the news that as a self-employed working mum, I’m also going to get hit by changes to National Insurance.

Under new measures announced in the Budget, the NI bill for those who work for themselves is set to rise from 9% to 11% over the next two years.

Adviser Hargreaves Lansdown calculates that a self-employed worker earning £30,000 will pay £282 more NI in 2019 than in 2016.

The Chancellor seems to equate the position of the employed and the self-employed, and fails to appreciate that people like me who run their own business, have a whole load more financial risk and much less security.

As a self-employed worker, I already forego the luxury of sick pay, paid annual leave, employer pension contributions and enhanced parental leave pay enjoyed by those in employment.

Many self-employed workers also have to support themselves through periods of no work.

Mr Hammond may have narrowed the tax difference, but there is still a glaring inequality of rights enjoyed by those working for themselves, compared to those in stable employment.

As I see it, these tax changes do not reflect the practical distinctions between employment and self-employment.

After all, I’m not working for myself in some clever bid to avoid paying tax. In fact, I’m working for myself so I can earn a decent living to help support my family, while also being able to spend quality time with my little girl.

And I’m pretty sure that the 4.5 million people now registered as self-employed (according to the most recent ONS figures) all have valid reasons for working for themselves.

While some will have made a lifestyle choice, others will have been forced into this decision.

In fact, a key driver behind the surge in self-employment was the 2008 financial crisis and the tough labour market left in its wake.

Equally, since then, has Mr Hammond not realised that the army of hard-working self-employed individuals in the UK have helped to make a substantial difference to both employment figures and economic recovery?

Why I’m especially angry about all of this on International Women’s Day

The Chancellor claimed that this Budget was about offering “support for ordinary families and women in the workplace.”

Yet aside from his announcement of £5m funding to promote “returnships” to help people back into employment after a career break (the majority of whom are women), his speech felt like a total betrayal of working mums on International Women’s Day (of all days).

If the Chancellor really wants to support women in the workplace, he needs to go a lot further with his childcare schemes for working families; he also needs to offer improved maternity pay and leave – as well as pension savings – for self-employed women.

Measures such as this would send a firm message to me and other working mums that the Government really is on the side of women.