Ms Michelle Murphy:

The first thing is that people feel overburdened because they are paying from their disposable income for services that if one compared us to the EU15, one would expect would be provided by the State. That is why people feel overburdened in terms of, for example, like child care or housing but also as a result of the relentless narrative that people are overtaxed, despite the facts showing that they are not and that USC is the most hated form of taxation. Regardless of one's opinion, it is a very well designed tax because it is very difficult to avoid. It is one of the few taxes we have in this country that is incredibly difficult to avoid and it is progressive because the more someone earns, the more USC they pay. What the facts tells us is that people know they are not overtaxed compared with where they were but they obviously feel burdened because they are paying out of their pockets for things one would ordinarily expect to be provided by the State.