Budget 2015: How are you affected?

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Chancellor George Osborne unveils billions in welfare cuts but announces a national "living wage" of £9 an hour by 2020 in his first Conservative Budget. You've been telling us how you are affected. Here are some of your stories.

"The minimum wage increase together with auto-enrolment being phased in will mean closure for some micro-employers" - Rhian Golding, Neath

It's a disaster for micro-employers. I look after the wages and accounts for about 40 small businesses. The minimum wage increase together with auto-enrolment being phased in will mean closure for some of them.

These are barbers, market stall holders, small bakeries with less than 10 employees who might work part-time. I've one client who has one employee that they can't do without to keep the business open - they're paying them twice what they pay themselves and have to claim tax credits.

At the moment these businesses are paying what they can afford. If the minimum wage is going up 11% then where do you find that extra in turnover? There's not going to be an 11% increase in spending where we are in West Glamorgan.

When you combine all the little things - loss of being able to claim for sick pay, auto-enrolment, still being expected to pay VAT and the minimum wage - it's hard to see how they'll survive.

The knock-on effect for me is that I will lose clients.

"I am a full-time engineering student, and also a mother of two children. Cutting grants and turning them into loans will massively change how lots of people view going into higher education.

I work part time in the holidays. The grants help keep the student debt down and allow me to focus on my studies and not have to work in term time. It will affect my final year, but if it had been in place when I started it would have been a deal breaker.

My husband works six days a week already and knowing that my pay is going to be reduced by my repayments is added pressure on him.

I'm on a course where I'm very likely to get a job quickly when I graduate. My husband works six days a week already and knowing that my pay is going to be reduced by my repayments is added pressure on him.

Being the only female and only parent on my course means that this issue only affects me. It will put lots of women off studying for sciences when they have children.

I voted Conservative and I am really disappointed with this decision. They should be making grants available for people who want to study subjects that we need in this country, not punishing talented young people and putting them off achieving."

At-a-glance: Key points of Budget

"The increase in personal allowance along with the national living wage really appeal to me and will (for once) benefit me" - Alice Cupples, Ballymena

"As a divorced thirty year old with no children, I am very happy with George Osborne's budget.

I am on 20 hours a week and the increase in personal allowance along with the national living wage really appeal to me and will (for once) benefit me! Where I live in Northern Ireland the opportunities for work with decent pay are limited in comparison to the rest of the mainland UK.

I am tired of other people around me earning a lot more money by doing very little to earn this and by gaining more money through benefits instead. I am very pleased that the era and seemingly held belief and attitude that people have a right to benefits and its their lifestyle choice is ending.

I particularly agree that people who want to start families will only receive child support for the first two children. After all, it is their decision to have children and at the minute it is taxpayers who fund this choice.

If you can't afford to have children like myself then you should not have them and then expect someone else to pay for them and your choice. Maybe this will reduce the amount of irresponsible parents and single parents popping out baby after baby.

George Osborne makes sense - if it were up to Labour or Scotland we would be facing a crisis like Greece."

"I claim working tax credit and child tax credit for my two children. With the changes, I stand to lose £70 a week, maybe more." - Joanne Smith, Birmingham

"I have two children aged 18 and 12 and one due to be born in January. I am a lone parent and I work 22 hours per week.

I claim working tax credit and child tax credit for my two children. With the changes, I stand to lose £70 a week, maybe more.

My eldest child goes to college in September therefore my child tax credit will enable me to support her through it - things like bus fares and so on.

However I will not be able to claim for my third child, which in turn means I cannot claim childcare help to enable me to go back to work. I've always worked to support my family.

So in effect I will be forced to go on benefits and live in poverty when all I want to do is work and provide for my children. How is this fair?"

"I agree to some extent with tax credits, but the only person who can raise my wife's wages is her." - John Thorner, Portland, Dorset

"Its all well and good Osborne cutting tax credits and saying if employers pay better wages then people will not need to claim. I agree to some extent with tax credits, but the only person who can raise my wife's wages is her.

My wife runs a small business as a taxi service with one car, her net profit was £3078 in this last year. If Osborne cuts our tax credits I have no clue on how we'll survive? We stand to lose £130 a month - that pays our bills.

We've cut what we can, and there's nothing left. We've got a small mortgage which we hope will be paid off next year.

I'm 57 and my wife's 56, what chance do we have of finding a job if we have to look for one?

I'm a bi-lateral amputee and cannot work. I receive the paltry sum of £5648.68 a year in ESA. I also receive DLA but that all gets used up for my adapted vehicle which I can't do without - we're not on a bus route.

I'm seriously thinking about whether I will have to look for a job. With my disability there's lots of issues I will face if I do."

(Interviews by Alex Murray)