National Insurance tax hike difference between 'petrol and meal' says care worker
8 September 2021, 10:44 | Updated: 8 September 2021, 11:12
Care worker speaks to LBC after tax hike to pay for social care
A care worker has told Nick Ferrari that paying the National Insurance increase is the difference between “petrol in the car and a meal that day."
Pat Jones told Nick that she earns just £8.91 an hour, and works 60-70 hours per week caring for vulnerable people in her community in Bridgend to make ends meet.
“£20 probably doesn’t mean anything to the Conservative party”, Pat said.
"But to people like me it’s the difference between putting petrol in the car or having a meal that day. It is a lot of money.
“Our people are already working 60-70 hours per week because that’s the only way that you can survive on minimum wage.”
On top of that, Liz revealed that she only receives statutory sick pay [SSP], at £96.35 per week.
Nick asked her why she does her job, when the conditions are so poor.
“We do it because we care”, she said.
“I think that has been used and abused."
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a 1.25% increase in National Insurance to find spiralling social care costs.
That will cost an extra £20 a month for Brits on the national average of £30,000 a year.
Earlier, Nick blasted Health Secretary Sajid Javid over where the Brexit Bus’ "£350m a week for the NHS" had gone.
Mr Johnson has claimed that the tax hike will improve the quality of care in the UK.
However, Pat said that the extra money wouldn’t help care workers at all, as they get their funding from local government and not the NHS.
Instead, she warned that care workers are “leaving in droves” because their wages are so low.
“All this talk is about the NHS, but our finding doesn’t come from the NHS, it comes from local government, so there will be no benefit."
