civilservant

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/poli...risoners.html#

Suggesting 19k now.

dunroving

Theresa May was on the Andrew Marr show this morning explaining the proposed new regulations.

Although I agree in principle with reducing illegal and exploitative immigration, this seems like yet another scheme that has not been thought through carefully. The practical implementation seems like a bureaucratic nightmare, and as the posts throughout this thread have pointed out, you can't apply a flat rate to people.

Savings, retirement status, health status, location, etc., etc., all determine whether or not you will be a burden on the benefits system. If you live in the centre of London, have no savings, and have to pay rent or mortgage, a salary of £19k is probably a laughably low amount to live on.

Also, why should a couple coming back with 3 children be treated differently from a childless couple with plans to have 3 children? You just can't assess these things.

I'd be happier if they simply had conditional rules about being able to claim benefits within a set time of immigrating to the UK. Length of the marriage to a non UKC should also be taken into account.

robin1234

Agreed.. There are so many variables that are up in the air. In our case, my wife already gets her British State Pension, because she is over sixty, but may not be able to live in the UK!! ?.Seems counterintuitive..

We are on the cusp of retiring, have all our assets and pensions waiting to be mobilized, but (like many folks in our position) would prefer not to annuitise or otherwise deploy them for at least a few years, because the longer you leave the funds, then of course the better an income you can draw. So the day we retire, or the following months and years, we'll have assets and potential income, but maybe not much actual income, so hard to see how we'll come within the rules.

Anyway, for couple hoping to move together, clearly the income you can document in the US or Australia or wherever is obviously going to cease when you move back to the UK. I'd like my employer to keep paying me if I move to England, but I honestly think they might eventually notice my absence!

formula

It's your comments that are sexist! Many women have a career and a family. The days of confining the "little woman" to the house are thankfully over in Europe thanks to lots of EU rules that protect working mothers'.

We don't want to go back to the days of the Ark and when men believed they were superior.

brissybee

Many women have a career and a family. Many women have a career then a family. Many women just have a family.

What I said was, the majority of stay at home child carers are women. That is a fact.

Only a fool would suggest this was mandatory, it is simply a fact. (I might point out that a womans decision to stay at home and rear children has nothing to do with her being the "little woman" at home. That is an out-dated sexist stereotype which you raised.)

And frankly, it doesn't matter a tinkers cuss what the eu has done to facilitate women with children to go out to work. Some choose not to go to work, some cannot work... and bless you for allowing me to remind you... some can't get back to the UK to take advantage of the EU rules. (Because they are stay at home mothers.)

FFS.

Pollyana

He would have to live in the UK to become a citizen.

The Aussie State pension would be largely irrelevant - its not payable unless you are in Aus just before retirement age, you need to have lived here 10 years to be eligible and even then its means-tested. A basic super plan for a few years, plus entitlement to a UK pension means most expats will never qualify for it.

formula

Neither I nor any of my friends stayed at home after the youngest had started school (age 4) even though our respective husbands' earned enough for the family to live on. Most of us even worked SE from home in the evenings just months after the baby was born. We all wanted to work to keep our selfworth as we came from familes that installed a good work ethic, so we wanted to contribute to the family pot. New laws have made it even easier for a parent in the EEA countries to drop off and collect their children from school.

What an earth do you do all day while the children are at school?

brissybee

Oh dear, you do seem to have a chip on your ever so hard-working shoulders, don't you?

If it makes you feel better about your life, I put myself through uni cleaning toilets to pay my way. Eventually, I achieved a career most people never even dream of. When I had my baby, I went back to working 12 hour days, as a suddenly single parent. Within 18 months I was injured and hospitalised, lost my career and had to sell the home I had bought for myself. Yet, through my own hard work, I single-handedly raised my child. So, lucky for me, my self-worth is quite in tact.
These days, I help raise step-children as well as my own. At times, I have gone out to work, but for now, I am physically undertaking major renovations, working two jobs from home and making time to do all those things with and for children that "real" working mothers miss out on.

I appreciate you may find this all very difficult to understand as I have lived a very different life and am obviously a very different person to you.

I hope you are not jealous.

Isabella17

Since when does a stay-at-home mom not contribute to the family 'pot'?? It is comments like these that make it that much harder for a woman to stay at home and take care of the children (and the house, finances and whatever is needed/required). I have been a stay-at-home mother to my 5 children for over 12 years now. The first few years are the hardest emotional wise because people make ridiculous and cruel comments like those above.

'Keep our selfworth'??? Seriously! I have tons of self worth. I am ensuring my children grow up respectful and intelligent and understand that self worth is not measured by the amount of money you bring home but by the impact you make on other's lives.

'Work ethic'?? Do you know how hard it is taking care of children 24/7?? Especially in the younger years. And it doesn't stop just because they go to school. When they are at school, you can finally get the stuff done you couldn't because they were at home needing care, help, etc during the day. Maybe not everyone can manage this situation nor choose to. I respect their choices and do not believe they are less of a person for doing so.

We homeschool so I am on the extreme end. I am helping my children grow up to become adults who do not condescend and insult others, who are intelligent and have a much better work ethic than many in public school nowadays, and who (hopefully) will feel blessed that their mother gave up much of her life for them (and happily did so). There are days I wonder if I should send my children to school. I will keep your comments in mind to remind myself that it is attitudes such as this as one of the reasons homeschooling and being a stay-at-home mom rocks.

Now I am off to watch crappy tele and eat bon bons. Oh wait, I already woke up.

formula

Why would anyone be jealous of someone who is moaning that they might not be able to afford to bring their family home?

brissybee

My husband earns too much to move that easily.

nun

I take a very simple approach to all this.

If you are a British citizen you should be able to come and live in the UK with your non-EU spouse and children. There should be no income limits or restrictions on benefits.

If May wants to stop immigration through "sham" marriages there should be an investigation to see if the marriage is just a ruse to gain entry to the UK. That would address the issue she (and the Daily Mail) has.

Personally I resent this legislation....I'm single, but if I was still married to my US ex I'd have to jump through hoops just to return to where I was born. What if I had to move back to the UK to look after my aging mother, would the UK force me to be separated from my US spouse? It's knee jerk legislation of the worst kind.

brissybee

Amen to that!

Englishmum

There is a discussion right now on the London radio station LBC 97.3FM regarding this (phone in).

Expats can get the *free App* to listen to radio stations anywhere in the world on their iPhones, iPads, Android phones and tablets on 'Tune In'.

(I'm always listening to BBC Radio 2, Radio 4, Capital Radio, BBC Radio 5 Live and LBC on my iPad and Android Samsung phone. It's brilliant )

brissybee

Thanks... here's a link too, for online listening with a laptop.

http://www.lbc.co.uk/listen-live-3578