Writings by me

You can’t have missed the headlines this week about Prime Minister Liz Truss’ chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng MP and the mini-budget. Today’s Lemon-Aid aims to cut through the sometimes terrifying headlines and show how Liz as leader might affect us as families…

Cost of living support

Alleviating the strain of energy bills has been top priority; so far she has frozen energy bills at their current price cap until 2024, and announced across the board tax cuts. This is on top of the current cost-of-living support grants for households.

Considering the projection that more than half of UK households will be in fuel poverty by January, and the dire consequences for the physical and mental health of our families if living in cold conditions, the question is: will any of these measures be enough?

Childcare

Another headline grabber during the campaign was her pledge for tax reforms to help with childcare. However before we start getting excited that this might lead to free childcare for all between 0-5, (well, one can dream) what it actually means is that parents who take time out to care for both children and elderly parents will not be penalised via the tax system to do so. Basically; stay-at-home parents and carers will be given a tax break.

I could harp on for hours and hours about what this instead looks like; in a nutshell, it looks like a form of time travel, going back to a time where one parent works and one parent stays at home (traditionally, most often the mother). Given the fact that firstly it’s extremely difficult to run a household on one salary and secondly, that perhaps parents want to be able to work and not have to make the choice between home and work (yawn…anyone else really bored with this argument?) can we not cut the bull and just…invest in more affordable childcare provision?

Schools and education

For an education system currently buckling under the weight of the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing impact of Covid, it seems strange that Truss’ focus has been on increasing grammar schools, maths and literacy standards and longer school days, along with brief mentions of access to mental health support at schools and higher-quality support for pupils with special education needs. Details of these policies are thin on the ground; however, it’s difficult to see how any of this focus is a high priority in times where children are turning up to school hungry and teachers are under so much pressure to deliver amid ever-dwindling budgets.

Only time will tell how Truss’ policy focus will play out for us as families. Even as a Labour voter at heart, and a Truss-sceptic, if these policies help to ease the burden on families, I hope she is able to deliver. The country needs it.