Tax credits: How George Osborne's cuts will affect real people's lives

'I haven’t calculated exactly how much I’m going to lose – it’s pretty scary to be honest'

Single parent Vicky Charles: 'I’d be completely stuck if I couldn’t cover nursery costs'

Vicky Charles, 34, in Salisbury

“I’m a self-employed single parent. I work as a copywriter and blogger whenever my daughter is in nursery and when she is asleep in the evenings. She is at nursery four days a week and a large percentage of the cost of this is paid for by tax credits.

“Without tax credits I would only be entitled to 15 hours a week of nursery care, which would impact on my ability to work. I haven’t calculated exactly how much I’m going to lose – it’s pretty scary to be honest, but I’d be completely stuck if I couldn’t cover nursery costs.”

Jennifer Roseway, 45, from Taunton

“My husband and I both work and we have three children. I have chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. This means that every day is a struggle. I can’t work more than 22 hours.

“I am a health care assistant in a nursing home for dementia, alongside my husband, who works as many hours as he can. Tax credits help with the rent, energy bills, clothes for the children. Without tax credits, we would not be able to afford our rent. Tax credits help us and many millions of other low earners to stay in work.”

Catherine, 38, from Belfast

“I am on [a work] placement after completing my undergraduate architecture degree. I have to work in a practice for a year to move on to the Masters. I work 32 hours per week on minimum wage. I am a single parent, and my daughter is 11, so money is tight. I have taken another job on Friday morning, when she is in school, to boost my income.

“I rely on tax credits to pay rent as I make around £850 a month and our rent is £550. I am not entitled to housing benefit. I just got my student loan bill and I owe £41,000 already. I don’t expect to use tax credits long-term, but it’s hard to see what I can do to adapt to the changes so quickly.

“I think the Government are seriously out of touch, telling people to get ‘better jobs that pay more’, as if it’s that simple. It’s like some kind of act of vengeance.”