Why is it so difficult to earn your way out of poverty?  Why do families on a single income often struggle financially? The first answer is the 90.6% METR (Marginal Equivalent Tax Rate) which anyone earning up to £30,295 will pay on each extra £1 they earn.  The second answer is the extra tax of at least £200 per month that a family with one income will pay in addition to the family on the same income with two earners.  Taxation is  the reason why so many mothers have to go out to work but still struggle to make ends meet.  Don Draper, who runs the website www.taxandthefamily.org lays out very clearly why it is the UK is one of the harshest tax regimes IN THE WORLD for families and what could be done to help families out of poverty and give families a choice to care for their children themselves.