Public votes for more tax cuts now, less later in life

If given the choice, the public would vote to cut support for the older generation and increase tax cuts for those still working. 

Those are the findings of a survey conducted by Sun Life of some 10,000 voters ahead of Chancellor George Osbourne's summer budget, which is due on July 8th. 

Mr Osbourne recently stated the government will cut benefits and place an annual cap on welfare payments to £23,000 per year. 

The good news for parents is that he promises there will be an increase of free childcare for people who work to 30 hours per week in a bid to help get more mothers and fathers back to work. 

However, he has also said he will be making cuts elsewhere and has not specified where these will come from, although there is concern that child tax credits will be hit. 

The research from Sun Life looked at what would happen if individuals were allowed to allocate £600 billion of the UK's budget across ten key spending areas. 

Tax cuts should be increased by 156 per cent, respondents suggest 

Respondents said they would increase the amount of tax cuts by 156 per cent to reach £17.9 billion. Meanwhile, they would cut support from the elderly and reduce pensions by more than £48 billion, or 32 per cent. 

It seems respondents are in favour of cuts to benefits and those who answered the survey said they would like to see them cut by a further £15 billion. This would mean spending on welfare would be reduced by close to 25 per cent. 

Managing director at Sun Life Dean Lamble said: "With an ageing UK population, pressure on areas such as welfare and state pensions will only increase. But voters – even the over 50s – told us that their biggest priorities for the new government are to reduce spending in these areas in favour of lower taxes and more generous health, education and environment budgets." 

Opposition suggests cuts to tax credits will hit lowest paid workers hardest 

The government's argument is that it is keen to get unemployed people back to work and encourage companies to offer employees higher rates of pay. 

Acting Labour party leader Harriet Harman suggested in a recent speech in the Commons that the government is planning to make tax cuts but has not proposed any strategies to encourage businesses to pay the living wage. 

Ms Harman stated that the minimum wage would have to increase by 25 per cent to compensate for the £1,400 per year deficit that cutting £5 billion from tax credits would create. 

Rising cost of childcare 

A recent study conducted for the Gingerbread charity and Child Poverty Action Group revealed that children who have working parents who have to foot the bill for expensive nursery costs are one-third more likely to end up below the poverty line. 

The research found that if childcare fees were added into household bills to measure poverty in the UK, some 133,000 more children would be categorised as poverty-stricken.