FAMILIES were not spared in the budget with family tax payments slashed.
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The payments will be tightened from 2015, with families on sole incomes to be hit hardest.
The biggest change is the cut-off of benefits being reduced for children aged 16 to six.
Leanne Yeomans from Basin View thought it would take some time before families started to realise the impact of the changes.
With children aged between 12 and six she understood the importance for mothers to have flexibility.
“Every family situation is different,” she said.
“When my children were younger my son had problems with asthma and I used to struggle to get time off.
“We’ve got a family business so in our situation financially the changes won’t make a big difference.
“I treat the payments as a bit of a bonus, but they help out with school fees.”
However Mrs Yeomans said once families started to add the fuel excise and Medicare co-payments the compounding affect would show in their own budgets.
“All we can do is hold out and hope he’s a one-term Tony,” she said.
Mrs Yeomans’ neighbour Kate Weathers thought the government got it wrong targeting families with young children.
Mrs Weathers has three children aged between two and 11.
“Any cuts will definitely affect me,” she said.
“The bottom line is this will impact on all families in some way.
“At the end of the day targeting families with young children is the wrong way to be trying to get the budget back into surplus.”