Who will give me the best deal on tax and pay?
LABOUR: Will freeze income tax but impose a one per cent rise on National Insurance for those earning over £20,000 a year, meaning a person earning £25,000 will be £40 a year worse off.
CONSERVATIVES: Will freeze National Insurance for those earning under £35,000 a year, and will keep council tax at current rates for two years.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Will not charge people earning less than £10,000 any income tax. They will also replace council tax with local income tax.
Will I be better off if I'm married?
LABOUR: Will not give tax breaks to married couples. Under the current system of tax credits, in some circumstances divorced couples can be better off.
CONSERVATIVES: Will charge some married couples less tax - 4 million couples will save up to £150 per year.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Will not give tax breaks to married couples.
Who will help me if I'm buying or selling property?
LABOUR: Will not charge first-time buyers stamp duty on homes under £250,000 for the next two years. Everyone else will be charged one per cent on property over £125,000, three per cent on over £250,000, or four per cent on over £500,000.
CONSERVATIVES: Will permanently get rid of stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes up to £250,000.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Will create a new system of Safe Start mortgages, which will aim to protect property buyers from falling into negative equity in the future.
Who's assisting the unemployed?
LABOUR: Will guarantee a job or training for all under 25s who have been out of work for six months and over 25s out of work for two years.
CONSERVATIVES: The party's Get Britain Working programme promises that young people out of work for more than six months will be offered help and training.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Will offer a training allowance to jobseekers under 25 while they complete internships of up to three months. They'll also fund 15,000 extra foundation degree places, which combine study with workplace learning.
Who is standing up for women in the workplace?
LABOUR: The new Equality Bill, due to come into effect in October, will force many businesses to report on pay gaps between men and women.
CONSERVATIVES: Will impose compulsory pay audits on companies proven to pay women less than men.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Promise a fair pay audit on every company employing over 100 people and pledge to ban the use of names on job application forms to help combat discrimination.
DID YOU KNOW? In the 2005 election, 67 per cent of women voted*. Around 17 per cent of women are currently undecided who to vote for in the 2010 election**.
What are their policies on accessing my GP?
LABOUR: Will offer evening and weekend access to doctors.
CONSERVATIVES: Have promised access to a local doctor from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week, and will link GPs' pay to results.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Will improve access to GPs and give patients the right to register with the GP they want.
What about the NHS?
LABOUR: Will ensure possible cancer patients receive their test results within one week and will guarantee cancer patients see a specialist within two weeks of referral. The maximum wait for hospital treatment will be 18 weeks. All pregnant women should be able to choose to have a home birth if it's safe to do so, and every mum-to-be will have a named midwife.
CONSERVATIVES: Will provide an extra 4,200 health visitors and a minimum of six hours at-home health visitor support for all families in the first fortnight of a child's life. They will also axe mixed-sex wards, increase access to cancer drugs and recruit 3,000 extra midwives. All five year olds will receive free dental check-ups.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Will introduce patient contracts that outline what treatment you can expect. They will encourage dentists back into the NHS and improve access to counselling for people with mental-health problems.
What will the parties do for new mums?
LABOUR: Will extend paternity leave from two weeks to four, and allow mums who choose to go back to work six months after having a baby to transfer the rest of their maternity leave to the father.
CONSERVATIVES: Will allow flexible parental leave for mums and dads to share.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Will allow mums and dads to share parental leave between them, and may look to extend leave to 18 months in the future.
Who gives the best deal on childcare?
LABOUR: Will increase free nursery education for three and four year olds from 12 hours a week to 15 hours and will expand free nursery places for two year olds.
CONSERVATIVES: Support the provision of free nursery care for pre-school children. Everyone with children under 18 would be able to ask for flexible working hours.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Will look to move towards 20 hours of free childcare for all children between 18 months and school age. They will extend the right to request flexible working to all employees and give fathers and grandparents more chance to take time off to look after children.
Who has the best education policy?
LABOUR: Promise one-to-one or small-group tuition for children who fall behind. If parents aren't satisfied with a school's performance, they will be able to trigger a vote on whether to bring in a new leadership team.
CONSERVATIVES: Will make classes smaller. The entry requirements for new teachers will be raised.
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Will invest £2.5billion in a 'Pupil Premium' for schools to help reduce class sizes and offer individual tuition. Tuition fees for students doing their first degree will be phased out over six years and eventually scrapped.
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