{"id":13136,"date":"2017-08-31T14:27:54","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T13:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13136"},"modified":"2017-08-31T18:05:33","modified_gmt":"2017-08-31T17:05:33","slug":"govt-rob-lowest-earners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13136","title":{"rendered":"Govt to rob from lowest earners"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Low-paid self-employed workers face a massive tax increase in April, which threatens to see many of those on the very lowest incomes in the economy fall through the cracks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even though the government last year made a last minute U-turn on a pledge to increase national insurance contributions for lower and middle-income self-employed people, it is still pushing ahead with NI hikes for those self-employed workers earning less than about \u00c2\u01416,000 in profits each year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Currently, self-employed workers earning less than \u00c2\u01416,025 can make voluntary \u00e2\u20ac\u0098class 2\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 NI contributions of \u00c2\u01412.80 a week \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or just under \u00c2\u0141150 a year \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to gain access to the full state pension. But if the government presses ahead with its plans to abolish class 2 NI contributions, those on the lowest incomes will be forced to pay the higher \u00e2\u20ac\u0098class 3\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 NI contributions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or else lose out on the state pension.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The higher rate is \u00c2\u014114 a week \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a 400 per cent increase, meaning self-employed workers earning less than \u00c2\u01416,000 will have to pay nearly \u00c2\u0141600 a year more from April than they are paying now to gain access to the state pension.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While \u00c2\u01416,000 may seem a very low sum, there are far more people earning this pittance than you might imagine \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the Office of National Statistics (ONS) found that in 2015-16, nearly 1m self-employed people earned less than \u00c2\u01415,965. This accounts for one in five of all self-employed workers, many of whom are hairdressers, carers, and those working the arts.<\/p>\n

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Not all of the lowest-earning self-employed people will be affected by the NI changes, because some will be eligible for NI credits, if for example, they have children under 12 or are carers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still, many who may not qualify for NI credits will face having to pay \u00c2\u0141733 a year at current rates, explained Gillian Wrigley of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople in a well-paid position might think \u00c2\u014114 a week not a lot of money, but for people on a low income it can mean the difference between feeding the kids or buying school shoes,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she told the Independent. <\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government says lots people on low incomes will earn pension credits in other ways, either because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a carer or have children under the age of 12. But there are people who are not getting credits elsewhere and will be in a vulnerable position from next year.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Bad jobs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the latest blows to self-employed people, who, according to a new analysis this month from the New Economics Foundation, are a group in which the majority are in \u00e2\u20ac\u0098bad jobs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The NEF study found that more than half \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 54 per cent \u00e2\u20ac\u201c of self-employed people are in what the think tank classifies as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098bad jobs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, compared to 32 per cent of employed people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The think tank defines \u00e2\u20ac\u0098bad jobs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that do not pay at least a Living Wage \u00e2\u20ac\u201c now set at \u00c2\u01419.75 an hour in London and \u00c2\u01418.45 outside the capital \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as well as jobs that are not \u00e2\u20ac\u0098secure\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. The NEF classifies \u00e2\u20ac\u0098secure\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 jobs as those in which people are on permanent contracts or where the only reason cited for having a temporary job is because the worker did not want a permanent contract.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

NEF researcher Hanna Wheatley argued that the army of self-employed people \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which now accounts for 15 per cent of the entire labour force \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is part of the reason that unemployment figures look better than they are.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe overall unemployment figures paint a far more rosy picture of the labour market than what we know to be the reality \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an underpaid and insecure workforce stretched to the limits,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOne in three people on zero hours contracts say they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough hours to provide for themselves,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Wheatley added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd while some benefit from the flexibility of being self-employed, many don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. The rise in self-employment is hardly a cause for celebration when over half don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t earn enough to live a decent life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt seems that good jobs were the sacrifice made to avoid the worst effects of unemployment during the recession. But the situation for many is reaching crisis point.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Earning a fraction\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bContrary to the image of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098budding entrepreneur\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 setting out to \u00e2\u20ac\u0098be their own boss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, the average self-employed person earns a fraction of what even some of the lowest paid employees earn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany choose to be self-employed because they have no other viable choice \u00e2\u20ac\u201c well-paid, secure jobs have become increasingly scarce in an economy being choked by government austerity. Others still are being bogusly classified as self-employed by bosses who want to underhandedly strip them of their rights and entitlements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government trying to sneak through a hike in voluntary NI contributions for the very poorest self-employed workers only adds to the misery that so many of these workers already face \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the blight of low pay, very little recourse to the law for workplace issues, and no rights such as statutory sick and holiday pay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we are to lift up self-employed people so that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on an even playing field with all workers, the government needs to put a floor underneath all workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights as well as rolling out sectoral collective bargaining and strengthening trade unions.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is precisely what the Labour party has committed to doing in support of self-employed workers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c find out more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Low-paid self-employed workers face a massive tax increase in April, which threatens to see many of those on the very lowest incomes in the economy fall through the cracks.   Even though the government last year made a last minute U-turn on a pledge to increase national insurance contributions for lower and middle-income self-employed people, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[96,270,556],"wps_subtitle":"Poorest raided by massive tax hike","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13137,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13136\/revisions\/13137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}