Siobhan, in her early 30s, is a single parent with a young son. She works as a technician in one of the new call centres and earns £18,400. She is locked into a fixed-interest rate mortgage rate of 11 per cent, so her monthly repayments are high, and she gets the maximum tax relief. She noted with dismay that the Minister did not increase the mortgage allowance this year, and because it applies only at the standard rate, which is now reduced, the net benefit is reduced.
Siobhan pays £60 every week to a creche for her son, so she is also annoyed that there is to be no tax relief for childcare.
She smokes 40 cigarettes a day, and will now pay an extra 10p a packet - or £73 a year - in tax.
She has an old car that has not been fitted with a catalytic converter and so does not run on unleaded petrol. This means she will pay an extra 4p a litre.
However, Siobhan will benefit from the increases of £1.50 a month in child benefit.