If each country had a two child policy

[Blackcat21]

Just an idea and my opinion, and fully aware I will probably get flamed for this.

The population is rising, not shrinking, and with that is coming ridiculous house prices, global warming, running low on natural resources and foods.

Health services are stretched and school classes are increasingly full.

Wouldn’t an solution to this be only letting per couple or mother/father have two biological children each.

I must admit, it does annoy me when some women go on to have 3rd, 4th child etc just because “they want to” or want a large family, love being with children or love being a mother.

Motherhood is a beautiful thing but it could be restricted to two biological children only.

Overpopulation is impacting the earth too much.

If this couple wanted more children they can adopt.
There are thousands of children in the U.K. and other countries each year wanting to be adopted.

Doing this could possibly tackle overpopulation but increase the adoption of children.

Obviously I’m aware there is problems of how to monitor this, what if a woman gets pregnant against her will, accidental pregnancies etc but not that is the not the point or idea I’m trying to get across right now.

AIBU to think this could be a good approach?

If you can't pay for your own kids then you shouldn't be having them

I've worked in benefits and credits, I've never met anyone who has had additional children just for the extra £13.50 a week Child Benefit and c.£58 of other benefits (maximum, before any other circumstances are taken into account). A welfare system that punishes people for the crime of being poor simply creates more poor people, its called the poverty trap for a reason.

So you think that the population should shrink in real terms, since not everyone will have children, not everyone can have children, and some children will not survive and not all children will be able to / want to have children when they are adults.

How do you think society would function in this scenario?

@Blackcat21

Alot of nitpicking saying I’m excluding fathers or finding parents for those adoptive children with additional needs.

That wasn’t my point, just the idea of controlling the population and cutting down on issues. The earth won’t last forever, we have to protect it.

It isn’t nit picking.

If you are worried about the impact of humans on the planet do you
Eat animal products
Own a car
Use single use plastics

I'm not sure it's overpopulation that is putting so much pressure on the earth as much as massive resource use. New mobile phones each year, huge amounts of food waste, fast fashion blah blah blah.

If we all used less we could all have as many children as we wanted (within reason)!!

It may work if contraception didn't fail. It does though. Therefore what do you suggest a couple or women (if she's single) accidentally gets pregnant should have to go through the trauma of an abortion. Its one thing if its her choice it's very much another if its forced on her.

If you can't pay for your own kids you shouldn't be having them.

I find it baffling that people still have these views after everything that's happened this past year.

I don't agree that countries should have a policy but I do think that governments should actively encourage people to have less children through education and raising awareness of the impacts having larger families has on the environment and world's resources. Many people would ignore it because they want to do what they want to do (as seen by many of the posts on this thread) but I do think there are people who have had more than 2 children but may not have done had they known the environmental impact.

@Tinydinosaur

Of course, the government has tried to discourage people on benefits from having more than 2 children, but apparently it's fine to have more than 2 if you're better off hmm So I don't support that policy either.

If you can't pay for your own kids then you shouldn't be having them.

Agree, that was a weirdly placed (not showing) on that other poster's side. Of course it's better if you're well-off than struggling (with or without benefits). Children aren't there to be "picked up" (conception) and "dropped" (birth) like they don't come with needs that require financial, physical, mental and emotional resources. They aren't products you can put on credit cards.

People getting pregnant willy-nilly like it's something that just "happened to' them. Then the wide-eyed "well what do you expect me to do, I didn't plan it". No you didn't. Poor child.

@thebillyotea

Of course, the government has tried to discourage people on benefits from having more than 2 children, but apparently it's fine to have more than 2 if you're better off hmm So I don't support that policy either.

it's not about being better off, it about being able to support your own children. Why is that such a controversial concept for you?

The government shouldn't have to support anyone who decide to have a lifestyle they can't afford. Benefits are a temporary lifeline to help in case of accidents, illness and unexpected life changes. No more .

Ah, so you think people with disabilities and long-term health conditions that prevent them from doing paid work, but not from being parents, have no right to more than two children.

Nice.

People's circumstances change unexpectedly all the time, plenty of people who can afford lots of children later need benefits in the short or long term. Also, a huge number of people on benefits are in paid work, but apparently the pitiful wages and high housing costs are their fault too...

Selfish capitalism at its finest.

This isn't the sort of issue that can be discussed reasonably, OP. You were brave to even try. Churning out kids, complaining and struggling to take care of them, then churning out some more seems to have become ingrained in some of us as the thing to do.

If that's how you picture having children, don't bother!

Policing women's bodies never ends well. Population levels are stabilizing world wide and going down in richer countries.
I don't understand the attitudes that so many women have on here that it's ok to judge another woman for having more than two kids. Madness! Feminists fought long and hard for reproductive rights and so many seem happy to hand them over

Of course smaller families would help deal with overpopulation, but you could never enforce something like this without severe moral & practical repercussions.

AnotherEmma

Of course people who cannot afford to have children for any reason should not have them

People's circumstances change unexpectedly all the time and that's when benefits can kick in to help.

Benefits are not designed to fund a lifestyle you want but can't afford. I mean, is that even for real?

I agree that we n

IMO people should be free to have as many children as they like - provided that they can afford to feed, clothe and house them without depending on the taxpayer beyond the benefits all families are entitled to.

Fewer and fewer parents in the West generally can afford 4, 5, 6+ children, and increasing numbers are choosing to have none at all, so I doubt that it’s going to be an increasing problem here.

In many countries, though, especially where contraception is unaffordable/unobtainable/both, and/or where religious leaders denounce contraception as a sin, or else some fiendish tool of the dastardly West, it’ll be a different matter.

I find it interesting that someone would even have time to think about other people's reproductive systems. If you want to have 2 children, have them. Other people are also doing what they want to do, including those that are having no children. Each to their own.

If that's how you picture having children, don't bother!

No it's how I picture people who don't see having children as a serious issue that requires careful planning (bar the reasonable exceptions I need not mention).
Nothing to do with the precious kids who didn't ask to be born (many who're saddled with unfortunate parents).

Sperm counts are going through the floor anyway (unless that research has been discredited yet).

If you want the birth rate to fall to 2 children per family, all you have to do is provide free contraception to women. Evidence shows that this is very effective for rapidly reducing the birth rate.

Legistlation is unnecessary and will just put people under pressure and piss them off.

@Blackcat21

Genuinely curious - what do you suggest if the first pregnancy is triplets or quads? Would they have to abort some of the foetuses? See how ridiculous your idea is?

The UK has a falling birth rate

A welfare system that punishes people for the crime of being poor

it's not punishing anyone not to give anyone a lifestyle they can't afford because they can't or can't be bothered to work to afford it by themselves!

Welfare system is a safety net. Not more.

Here's a very interesting TED talk on how to tackle population growth.

www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_global_population_growth_box_by_box?language=en#t-583671

The terrible consequences of China's one-child policy have been many and various. You should do some reading on this

I saw on the news today that the population is actually declining in northern areas and they are unsure how to reverse it v