Why do we pay child benefits at all?

[GordonBennet]

During the run up to the election all the major parties were going out of their way to say they were going to give as many rewards as they could to "hard working families", but isn't it time this changed?

 

We live in an overpopulated country on an overpopulated planet and need to find ways of cutting public spending. Perhaps we ought to look at scrapping child benefits as effectively parents now get so much money thrown at them that they're better off working than they are taking a job.

 

Some might say that this would disadvantage poor families and make them think twice about having kids at all but would that be such a bad thing? If only the relatively well off could afford to have a family, you'd end up with less children but generally a better class of child, one that's more likely to be well educated, intelligent and hard-working. Unlike the children of poor families who tend to be uneducated, lazy and antisocial and more likely to commit crime.

 

At the end of the day it's not the state's responsibility to pay for your children, it's the parents.

[liam1412]

So you think becasue im not the most intelligent person in the world, and can't get a high paid job I shouldn't have the right to have children. I have to say I think that is incredibly arrogant!

 

Don't get me wrong Im not thick but neither was I academic enough to go through college/uni and get myself a high flying job. I work very hard 40 hours a week, and my children are both well looked after, polite and friendly, and destined to have a pretty good life I hope. But by your reasoning, becasue I don't have a well paid job, my kids shouldn't even be in this world in the first place, becasue I could never afford to have kids without a little bit of help!

[shane39]

There should be a cut off point,depending on how much the parents earn.

We should also stop paying it to parents of children who don't even reside in this country.

[GordonBennet]

There should be a cut off point,depending on how much the parents earn.

We should also stop paying it to parents of children who don't even reside in this country.

 

Very true. One of my ex-wife's relatives lives in Surrey with her partner in a house worth £500k with a combined income of over £100k, yet because they have three kids they get the full amount of child benefit even though they don't need it.

[EmilyM]

Qualities like intelligence and the ability to be hard-working are not restricted to people on higher incomes. My parents never had any money, but myself and my 2 siblings have all been to university. I am not uneducated, lazy or antisocial.

[LibertyBell]

Unlike the children of poor families who tend to be uneducated, lazy and antisocial and more likely to commit crime.

 

What a dreadful attitude (and a bit troll-like) ; generalising and very insullting to poor people.

 

There may be a case for targetting CB at poorer families and it is a bit strange that someone on £50k gets the same amount as someone on a low income.

[Babooshka]

So you think becasue im not the most intelligent person in the world, and can't get a high paid job I shouldn't have the right to have children. I have to say I think that is incredibly arrogant!

 

Don't get me wrong Im not thick but neither was I academic enough to go through college/uni and get myself a high flying job. I work very hard 40 hours a week, and my children are both well looked after, polite and friendly, and destined to have a pretty good life I hope. But by your reasoning, becasue I don't have a well paid job, my kids shouldn't even be in this world in the first place, becasue I could never afford to have kids without a little bit of help!

 

Yes, we all have the right to have children, but I think we should only have what we can afford and support by ourselves. We should never choose to have children based on the knowledge that other people will be paying to support you in this decision.

 

I have one child, and, there are many reasons why I do not wish to have any more, but a minor one of those reasons is because I simply could not afford to do it, and with this in mind, I do not expect the rest of the country to cough up in order that I can. If I don't pay, some other bugger has to. Is THAT fair? I think if people thought a lot more like this, then a lot more money would be spent on a lot better things, than people's desire to have multiple children that other people support!

[HeadingNorth]

There should be a cut off point,depending on how much the parents earn.

 

 

Means-testing child benefit was scrapped because the cost of means-testing it was higher than the cost of paying it to rich people. I would guess that this would still hold, so while not giving the benefit to the rich would be morally sound, it would be silly in practice.

[HeadingNorth]

Yes, we all have the right to have children, but I think we should only have what we can afford and support by ourselves. We should never choose to have children based on the knowledge that other people will be paying to support you in this decision.

 

 

Here's the problem, though; when such children exist, the argument about not having them is no longer valid. They exist, it's too late. How do you impose a financial penalty on the parents that will not cause the child to suffer? The child has done nothing wrong; it didn't choose to be born into a family that can't afford it.

[Tony]

Legislation doesn't have to be retrospective.