On 17 Dec, 15:34, Roger Chapman wrote:

ISTM that TNP meant that the Government should stop throwing our money
at parents and penalise them for having children instead. ie tax their
self-indulgent lifestyle choice rather than heavily subsidising it.

Great idea. You don't even have to tax them, just not subsidise

Only problem is that child poverty _is_ recognised as being one of the
worst causes of assorted chavdom in the next batch. So find a way to
avoid financial encouragement of over-breeding, whilst (recognising
that there are still going to be _some_ kids) not penalising those
that do happen along anyway.

You _could_ do this by increased nanny-statism and checking whether
the Child Benefit is going on Stella (bad) or claret (not going to say
a word against that). But the "they only breed to get more dole"
viewpoint is rarely going to coincide with that approach.