“Tax credits need to be reformed for numerous reasons not only because they are complicated and prone to error but because they encourage employers to keep wages low because they know the state will top up their wages bill; in effect they are being given a licence to pay less. More importantly tax credits discourage recipients from working harder and longer hours for more pay so productivity and aspiration suffer. An example of this is a single parent with three children who works 16 hours a week on the minimum wage – earning them roughly £5,400 per year. Adding together child tax credit, working tax credit and support for childcare, he/she could receive an additional £23, 885 a year. They would effectively receive around 80 per cent of their income via benefits. However there is little incentive to switch to a job working more than 16 hours a week. The tax credits drop sharply; net income increases more slowly and recipients can face a high marginal tax rate.”

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/letter-Hugo-Swire-tax-credit-reduced/story-28110462-detail/story.html

Three kids AND working 16 hours a week at a minimum wage job, probably on zero hours – how does she do it!

For comparison:

[Bankers] “Total bonuses over the past year rose by 4.9 per cent to £40.5billion, of which £14.4billion was paid in the finance and insurance industry, a 2.9 per cent increase, the ONS said”

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2737778/Bankers-bonuses-rise-double-rate-average-worker.html

Tax credits cost about £30 billion a year.

https://fullfact.org/economy/welfare_budget_public_spending-29886