Chefs could lose over £2k a year due to tax credit cuts
A briefing compiled by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) reported that some chefs – those who had two children and were the sole earners for their households on an average wage (calculated to be £18,283) – were set to lose roughly £2,064.01 a year if the Conservative government’s cuts to tax credits were enforced.
Critical
Aidan McGee, head chef at London pub the Truscott Arms, said the cuts had the potential to push senior chefs out of their positions, forcing them to look for alternative careers at a time when the number of applicants suitable to fill chef roles was critically low.
“There are loads of pubs out there that want experienced chefs and the job fits into a family schedule,” he said. “It’s not fair – why should the fact that they have decided to have a family stop them from being chefs?”
The government’s plan to cut tax credits has proved a controversial issue, with peers in the House of Lords recently voting to delay them and compensate those affected in full.
BHA deputy chief exec:
The problem is that the cuts to tax credits are happening faster than the living wage is rising
If they were imposed bar staff, restaurant managers and cooks who were the sole earners in two-child families could suffer potential losses of approximately £1,706.80, £2,260.22 and £1,859.61 per year respectively, the CPAG report claimed.
Affected
Martin Couchman, deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association (BHA) said whilst the impact of the benefits and tax credits cuts would vary from household to household, there was no doubt that many hospitality workers would be affected.
He said: “The national living wage will grow at 7% compound per annum through to 2020 and the total increase of just over £2.50 an hour will lift wages by about £5000 that year. The problem for individuals is that the cuts to tax credits are happening faster than the living wage is rising.
“Chefs are in short supply and the national living wage will squeeze business margins, but restaurants have to have chefs and have to pay them the living wage, so chefs will remain in demand.”
