Being devil's advocate - should there be a cap on the number of children a family can claim benefit for?

[ReallyTired]

Flame throwers ready - play nicely everyone.

I feel uncomfortable about further cuts to the support that families already recieve. Young families have suffered enough. It would be interesting know how other developed countries help their young people.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31743031

There are plenty of people who think we don't have room for people fleeing for their lives from Islamic State. If Britain is full up then surely we should be discouraging people from having any lots of children. I think the labour policy of being more generous to families with child tax credits, pregnancy health grant, generous childcare subsidy has increased the birth rate. Maybe there is an arguement for discouraging people from having more children. I don't know. Many migrants are intelligent, hard working and frankly more of an asset to the country than many native born British people.

However capping child benefit combined with the loss of child tax credits will plunge families into poverty. Children have no choice in being born and should not be punished for the lack of responsiblity of their parents.
The child benefit/ child tax credit system is broke and does not help to allievate poverty.

3 DCs is not a huge family.

Personally I think a cap would be fair at 4dc. You can have accidents. You could have children young and want a DC with a new partner in your thirties. Life has a funny way of twisting and turning in unplanned directions.

3 DCs is not a huge family but if everyone has 3 you are not replacing yourselves but adding to the population burden.

Purple if you want a third or fourth dc with a new partner, surely you should build that into your finances? Why should the state pay for your choice?

Well we could punish the poor and children... Or
We could suggest large companies pay a reasonable amount of tax:
taxdodgingbill.org.uk/the-bill/

colley what about families who don't get these benefits?

Are they forced into abortions? Or are the ones that have them for financial reasons, choosin abortions.

I have never claimed tax credits, even when we would have qualified for some. I had a large gap between children because that's what we could afford. I don't know why this seems so alien and so unacceptable to people.

Shouldn't we try to get away from the Ponzi scheme of current workers funding pensions? I think State pensions should be phased out (I believe this is already starting to happen, with the introduction of compulsory pensions).

Aside from shortages of school places, housing and social infrastructure, the world has finite and rapidly dwindling resources. We should genuinely be looking to stabilise and then reduce population, not aim for a replacement rate or heaven forbid, an increasing rate.

Limer - agree.

There should definitely be a cap. It's a no-brainer. Otherwise everyone might as well just have loads of kids and live off benefits. What would be the incentive to work?

8 pages and no consideration for women who find themselves on the end of abuse...women who will no longer be able to walk away safe in the knowledge that their 3 children are guarenteed a basic standard of living. Watch the murder rate rise - slowly, but it will rise.

No, but you can insure against the consequences

really? you can insure against all possible situations that can arise in life, can't you? I myself am sitting on insurance for 'husband runs off with his secretary' and 'husband falls out of love' and 'husband turns into a complete prick when he meets another woman and leaves us with nothing'.

Or are you going to suggest women who 'choose badly' deserve everything they get?

This is a huge backward step for our society and no, the few people who have more than 2 or 3 children should not have to find themselves making decisions between living and dying at the hands of an abusive man or staying with someone who is sleeping with other women and putting his wife at risk of god knows what diseases.

So fedup just keep on paying out whatever? I just don't think its sustainable. Not long term for an ever increasing population.

MrsDeVere I would have thought that in cases as you describe, the benefits attached to the child stay with the child. So if you took on your sister's 3 children as well as your own two, you could claim for five. Your sister of course loses all child benefits.

Otherwise the state would have to pay far more for foster care.

I find it absolutely astounding that when DDs dad left, few years ago now, I qualified for £113 a week in working + child tax credits (no childcare), yet he was on a pretty decent wage, moved back in to his mums so no bills, and contributed £50 a week!

So the gov says that £113 is what I "needed", plus wages, to have a basic standard of life with my child, yet only asks the person who contributed to making her pay half of that?? If tax credits are too high, surely CM is too low?!

Also, this will NEVER apply to the father (or NRP) only the ones with the CB number. So does that mean her Dad could go off, have two more kids and DDs maintenance would be decreased?? And the benefit cal would not apply to him and new parter

That said, if there is going to be an effective "cap on children" i'd rather we all played our part. I think the birthrate probably could do with decreasing, and rarely see a need for people to have four children as a pp suggested. When you think of how technology has advanced even in the past 30 years, I think we'll start to see a decrease in jobs as technology takes over. Not to mention people are living longer. Theres also that small problem of finite resources. I think immagration would be a much better solution, no economic cost for 16+ years like children. That said, children are much more than their economic value of course, so I think two or three is a good balance.

Not trying to be harsh but simply put if you can't feed don't breed. Social security etc is a social safetynet not a wage or lifestyle. If you chose to have a family the size of a football team then tough luck.

Senga always polishes the bed knobs

senga I totally agree, bit harsh the way you have said it, but I do agree

Well said senga.

Yes it should be capped.????And capping is not going to throw anyone into poverty. From what I understand no one is having their benefit removed, only those who give birth after (whatever year they've set). There are far too many people having babies to get more benefits.

Sometimes simple is best. Tell me why you think simplistic

I am personally in favour of benefits being given to no more than two births.

people relying on benefits (of any kind) when the shit hits the fan and you become unemployed, sick etc, are not the problem. People who have children with the attitude of "well I can't really afford anymore, but fuck it, we the government will help us out" are the problem.
I have one ds, can't afford any more (dont want anymore but that's another story!) but I certainly would not have another child, expecting more cb to subsidize us!

Sorry, the government, not we the government