Tax childless adults

[Acidburn]

Hi all

Just saw the below article on LBC news:

www.lbc.co.uk/news/childless-tax-birthrate-uk-cost-of-living-paul-morland/

AIBU to think that this insane?

I'm all for incentivising children, family support and childcare, mind. I just don't think you incentivise one group by penalising another.

Would I get a rebate if I die young and don't need care? Can I get a discount by only using medical professionals my age or older?

I contribute, via taxes, to education and healthcare for these future generations and am happy to do so. If you want me to be taxed separately, on top, to pay for kids for the simple reason I don't have them, then I want a say in who has them and when and I don't want to pay for schools, maternity services etc via tax or I'm paying twice. I also don't want to pay for any that turn out to be useless wasters who do nothing with their lives by choice.

Exactly, Ducks. Those who are unchilded already subsidise those who are.

Will they refund everyone teh cost of IVF? 40k and counting...

There are far too many people in the world. Yes in the next few decades we will have a growing elderly population but you can't just make new humans to look after the old ones. At some point, we will get over this hump and the population will stabilise - lower. Good.

Paying people to have kids - can't see anything going wrong with that at all . No doubt some will find it offensive me saying this, but the kind of people who are incentivised to produce children for the financial perks, are unlikely to raise adults who will be paying loads of tax anyway.

And yes - I pay bloody loads of tax for things I don't use. So my answer is "fuck off".

Screw childlesss taxes. Many of us are already net contributors so doing are bit.

If you are worried about care in old age, fight for euthanasia on demand. I would like that.

*our!!!

I also agree with an environmental tax on children (and I have one). We dont need more and more babies. Japan manages with an aging population, low birth rate and low immigration. The fewer babies born right now and for a long time in the future, the better. Earth simply cannot sustain 7 billion people and it sickens and terrifies me how much damage we are doing to the environment because people are somehow more important than every single other species on the planet.

That is so ridiculous. Everyone pays taxes which contributes to education, nhs, etc. already. Childless people don’t get child benefit and while I agree some provisions could be better this should be paid by all not the childless. But ultimately we should be aiming for a controlled reduction in population which maintains societal structure while reducing our impact on the planet a pyramid structure is unsustainable.

It's a stupid idea for hundreds of reasons.

One of which being that it would disproportionately penalises groups such as same sex couples. Those in same sex relationships for example are already less likely to have children due to inequalities in access to fertility funding (amongst other things). It feels like a draconian suggestion that would put us another step closer to the likes of the USA who seem to be moving drastically backwards. Who's to say the next step wont be banning abortion in an attempt to "keep the birth rate up"?

It's a slippy slope when you start penalising people for not reproducing rather than addressing the reasons why many are choosing not to. (Not forgetting that for many it isn't a choice)

This.

Ridiculous idea.

Yes, all of those things need to be funded and will always need to be funded. How do you propose that works when our working age population is massively depleted because of years of low birth rates? What we can afford to pay for via taxes will be massively depleted. Who will pay for hospitals and social care?

I’m not saying this idea is a silver bullet but it’s a sensible idea. We can’t just bury our heads in the sand.

Don’t be ridiculous, we’re already over populated, we don’t need to keep growing in numbers like a plague of locusts, we need to find more sustainable solutions.

And it’s not the job of child free people to even further subsidise people who have children. Such an entitled point of view.

This is why its a fucking stupid idea that would never happen. How will the government know if im infertile or not? They cant. How will they know im in a relationship unless im listing someone as partner/spouse on forms to them? What if im single and cant find anyone to have kids with? When does the tax start/stop, when a baby is born or when we start trying? What happens if my child dies, do i get taxed again? What if im on minimum wage and physically wont be able to afford childcare, are you going to pay for me to stay at home until the child is a teen? What happens if i try for 20 years but dont have one through no fault of my own, do i still get taxed?

'We need people to support the ageing population'
Er how the fuck is that my uteruses problem? How about we stop doing the population equivalent of having a baby in a shit relationship to 'bring you closer together' and stop throwing babies at the problem?
Isnt the problem that we pay all of these 'supportive' workers we so desperately need fuck all money and expect them to work under shit conditions? How does having more people not being able to do those jobs because you cant afford rent, bills and travel on the wages offered fixing the problem...

Its a stupid inflammatory article written by an idiot.

This happened in Romania under Ceausescu. Google decree 770.

Obviously bonkers. But I do think it's interesting that for a very long time we've not had to worry about not having enough young people, and a time may soon come when governments start to try and encourage more to have kids.

Tax parents more then. Fair?

The most awful thing about this proposal is that it'll result in children being born to people who don't want them and just see them as dollar signs.

The UK is almost unique in the Western world in that your tax allowance doesn't get adjusted for your number of dependents you support, apart from a small transferable marriage allowance.

Bit late now (I'm 50) and I'm not sure how I'd be "fined" for not having children with an infertile husband...

Even though my taxes have paid for free birth control, women to give birth and have maternity benefits (inc free dental care and prescriptions), free child care and education for the child for up to 15yrs...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decree_770

Child free people are doing society a service. The less people born, the better.

We would do far better to incentivise people into being healthier and more active so that their old ages are hopefully less expensive.

I thought you got working family tax credit if you're on a low income? maybe it's all UC these days...

Nope I disagree with this as a person with children. The way to sort out the top heavy society is legal euthanasia (for those who want it) and better support for working parents, not punishing those who can't/ don't have children.

Friends without children pay the taxes for state education without any immediate benefit

China are in a mess with their low birth rate.

We're in a mess because we no longer live in the same town as our parents and other family members so there's no support network