HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : 10,000 Pounds guaranteed income for low-paid families [January 1999]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 26 January 1999.

The new Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) will guarantee the lowest paid families a full-time income of around 10,000 Pounds a year, announced Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo today, easing both the poverty and unemployment trap.

The WFTC, which replaces Family Credit from October this year, will:

– benefit 1.3 million families;

– guarantee a full-time income of more than 190 Pounds per week;

– ensure, with a new childcare tax credit, that no family is denied the opportunity to work by being unable to access affordable quality childcare;

– help parents – whether lone parents or couples – with up to 70% of their childcare costs, up to a maximum of 100 Pounds a week for one child, and costs of 150 Pounds for two or more in eligible childcare.