Consumer Corner: Is Budget 2024 really for the mammies?

Is it really a budget for the kids, and our pockets - or is it business as usual for the people who really need help with the cost of living?

Pic: iStock

Mums, let’s talk about the budget. What’s in it for us? 

Let’s face it, the number crunchers at the ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms have degrees in managing money but nobody knows how to look after finances better than a mum. 

Down to the fiver saved in Dunnes with the voucher, every euro is accounted for. 

Most of the maths are in our heads and the €36 needed for art supplies at school can generally be cobbled together from pockets and drawers (and piggy banks) around the house.

There’s the wishlist-like assistants to help you with your child's swimming lesson or school lunches made for us daily so you don’t have to spend hours chopping grapes and making a sandwich the kids won’t eat.

Then there’s the reality.

There have been promises that this was going to be a budget for families and children. 

Every family is different of course so a budget will benefit some more than others but in general terms, we will take a look at how much this budget will appeal to mums. 

Let's look through all the razzmatazz and see the Insta vs Reality of Budget 2024.

BREAKING IT DOWN

Minister McGrath pointed out in his budget speech that household budgets are stretched right now and he’s not wrong. 

However, to start with a positive he followed that up with predictions that prices will come down next year.

Always a crowd pleaser is the children's allowance. Good news here. 

We are getting a once-off double child benefit payment before Christmas, which for a mum of three is worth an extra €420. That will be very welcome. 

The payment is also being extended to 18-year-olds in full-time education.

The cost of the personal taxi service we provide to our kids will also stay steady as the price of petrol and diesel has not been increased as hikes in excise on petrol and diesel have been postponed until next year.

Also very welcome is the news that we will be getting more of those energy credits. 

That money that magically comes off our electricity bills. The positive news here is that three of them are on the way at €150 each. 

Also, the Minister said that the Government is extending the 9% reduced VAT rate for gas and electricity for another 12 months which he pointed out will save us an additional €90 on electricity and €62 on gas over the year.

For working mums, there’s a lot on the way next year, with cuts flying everywhere on our pay packets. 

Cuts to income tax and USC rates were announced which could see a bit more on our take-home pay depending on salary.

HEADLINE-GRABBING?

Minister for Mums, Roderic O’Gorman said that he wanted to cut costs for parents by half over two budgets last year. 

A bit of headline-grabbing in this area with this budget with the announcement that the Government will be cutting childcare fees. 

However, keep reading, as this is "being pushed out". 

There was some creative communication going on whereby they announced that childcare costs would be cut by 25%, but we will have to wait nearly a year for that to impact. September 2024 to be exact. 

That’s if there are any creches left by then. Following months of protests, the operators of childcare settings have been calling for more Government funding to help them run their businesses. 

Parents might now have less to pay for childcare but unfortunately, we might not have anywhere to go for childcare. 

Minister Donohoe did speak about investment “on the supply side” with core funding but nothing specific.

The free school books for our kids are staying and are even being extended up to Junior Cert. 

This will also save us a few hundred euro in September. College fees have been cut and there was also the announcement that schools will be getting an additional 1,200 SNAs.

For new mums, they will now get nine weeks of Parents Benefit payment, but it will be from August next year. This is like a handy extra State maternity payment, rather than having to take unpaid leave.

For any mums in receipt of grants or allowances, the home carer tax credit and the single-person child carer credit will be increased by €100 and the incapacitated child tax credit is being increased by €200. 

Also, a €400 lump sum payment will be made to recipients of the Working Family Payment.

THE VERDICT

All in all, as budgets go, it was a pretty favourable one for mums. 

We’ll be getting more children's allowance, will be paying less for electricity, free school books for kids, we will be paying less for childcare (at some point), and less for college. 

It looks like there will be more take-home pay to enjoy for working mums and for mothers who receive grants and support there’ll be more money there too.

And after all that, the good news is that the price of a bottle of Pinot Grigio will be staying the same, with no hike on alcohol prices.