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AIBU?

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Original poster

Should childcare be paid for and other benefits given just for having a child/children?

501 replies

Sunshine236 · 15/03/2023 12:11

Does everyone think childcare should be paid for?

It's controversial but why do some people feel entitled to be monetarily supplemented because they’ve had a child?

It’s surely a lifestyle choice and people should ensure they can afford to have children?

For sure there should absolutely be a safety net for those who have had children and circumstances change seeing them need urgent support, but I’ve read people earning £100k are receiving some kind of support each month and now we're looking to provide further free childcare.

There are so many other issues such as social care, NHS funding etc that need funding which money could go towards, rather than supplementing people who are already receiving a decent salary just because they’ve had a child/children?

OP posts:
MinorMeltdown · 15/03/2023 12:14

I think the problem is if there was no help an awful lot less people would be able to afford to work at all, which would have a negative impact on the economy and I would imagine result in more benefits claims which would also cost the government.

Many people take into account what help is available when choosing when to have children and working out whether it's affordable.

Kranke · 15/03/2023 12:15

Because there is a gender pay gap. Women often feel forced to stay at home because of crippling childcare costs as it makes sense for the higher earner to stay in employment, hence perpetuating the cycle.

LongRoadtoNowhere · 15/03/2023 12:16

I definitely think childcare should be supplemented. Whether it’s completely free or on a sliding scale depending on your joint family income isn’t for me to decide, but how it is at the moment makes it unviable for a lot a lot of people (mainly women) to go back to work.

If more people can work, more taxes are paid into the system. That’s how it works in a lot of other European countries, and that’s why the seem to have done the maths here and figured out it’ll be worthwhile.

Albiboba · 15/03/2023 12:16

It's controversial but why do some people feel entitled to be monetarily supplemented because they’ve had a child?

Do they?

Why do people expect free healthcare when they are sick?

Why do people expect to get paid for 20 days of annual leave when they aren’t working?

Why do people expect to get sick pay?

There are so many other issues such as social care, NHS funding etc that need funding which money could go towards, rather than supplementing people who are already receiving a decent salary just because they’ve had a child/children?
What supplement are you talking about? A payment direct to a childcare provider does not supplement a salary and instead largely goes directly into the government purse again in the form of tax and spending in the economy.

but I’ve read people earning £100k are receiving some kind of support each month and now we're looking to provide further free childcare.

Incorrect.

If you actually want to learn more about this it’s pretty easy to.

Posts full of false information to sway narrative are bullshit.

KimmySchmitt · 15/03/2023 12:18

I can only assume it's to encourage people back to work (to pay more tax) and to encourage people to have children (who will hopefully be my doctors, and the taxpayers paying my pension when I'm older). As a childfree family it is a bit annoying that we subsidise the lifestyle choices of others, but that's just life.

MelchiorsMistress · 15/03/2023 12:19

It is better for society in the long run if parents can continue to work full time or close to it.

I’d rather my taxes went towards paying for childcare that enables people to work for their own money than towards providing free money for some families to have SAHP’s.

Having a SAHP should be a luxury that can only be afforded when there is a high earner that can support everyone in the family without needing state support. It is not something that should be funded by the state, and the only way many people can work is by childcare being subsided.

Kazzyhoward · 15/03/2023 12:20

As the last few years has shown, we have a shortage of workers in lots of areas.

It's the government's job to organise a functioning country.

To do that, it has to incentivise and/or disincentive behaviour.

It's been identified that providing more free/subsidised childcare will get more people able to work.

So, we have to suck it up if we want more teachers, nurses, hospitality workers, lorry drivers, and virtually every other type of worker in short supply.

februarysunset · 15/03/2023 12:20

The paltry contribution I get from the government towards my children's nursery fees is more than offset by the huge amount of tax I have paid and will pay throughout my career. Not to mention the amount of tax my kids will pay when they grow up and start working.

Moraxella · 15/03/2023 12:22

Affordability was a lot different 3yrs ago - nursery was £50/day now £80, my wage hasn’t gone up and every other bill has. You need people in the middle of the income spectrum to have kids that will go on to work and pay our pensions. I doubt the kids of the very wealthy will be happy taking on the workload and wage of NHS jobs for example.

Ovidnaso · 15/03/2023 12:23

It's not actually a lifestyle choice, but the way all life on earth, probably all over the universe, in fact, if there is life out there, continues.

So your premise is false.

Even if it were correct, the ethical way to exist is for all to support one another, so of course childcare should be paid for communally, by taxes.

The real issue is whether it's acceptable to pay some women very low pay to look after children. Childcare is one of the most important jobs and ought be renumerated properly.

stargirl1701 · 15/03/2023 12:23

Yes, I think childcare should be paid through taxation like education. Scotland has a declining population...we need more babies born to survive as a society. It's in all our interests to have more young people so they can become taxpayers.

Children are an evolutionary default not a lifestyle choice.

Hairfriar · 15/03/2023 12:24

It's not that I believe people who choose to have children should get extra money, rather that I believe it benefits society and the economy as a whole for people to have children and for them to also go out to work. The working population is declining relative to those we have to support (like pensioners, the sick and elderly).

smellyflowers · 15/03/2023 12:24

The 15 hours funding was to try and level the playing field for the children - so they all had the chance to go to nursery. I don't see anything wrong with that as it's for the children.

Ovidnaso · 15/03/2023 12:26

Personally, I'd rather more emphasis was placed on allowing parents to look after their children, more encouragement for people to share childcare communally, and more work/life balance, but properly paid childcare would be a part of this.

The most important work such as childcare and food production are less valued in our society than jobs that are destroying the planet.

Ovidnaso · 15/03/2023 12:27

stargirl1701 · 15/03/2023 12:23

Yes, I think childcare should be paid through taxation like education. Scotland has a declining population...we need more babies born to survive as a society. It's in all our interests to have more young people so they can become taxpayers.

Children are an evolutionary default not a lifestyle choice.

Yes, evolutionary default is a good way of putting it.

Sparklesocks · 15/03/2023 12:27

I’m happy to pay for childcare, but when said childcare is significantly more than my mortgage then it’s unsustainable and my DP and I consider one of us giving up work because of it. Is it subsidising my lifestyle choice to have a child, or a way to keep me in work and paying taxes/supporting the economy?

KimmySchmitt · 15/03/2023 12:27

@Ovidnaso @stargirl1701 Umm, due to access to contraception and the fact women now have choice in whether to procreate or not, having children is a lifestyle choice.

2023forme · 15/03/2023 12:28

@Sunshine236 YABU. I used to have this argument with a colleague all the time. She was child free by choice and moaned all the time about 'benefits' people got for having children. My reply was to ask her who was going to provide health and social care, policing, the fire brigade, fix the roads, mend the street lights yadda yadda yadda - we need people to keep having children to make the world function. Children cost a small fortune so it is fair IMHO that parents get some help to finance their upbringing.

KimmySchmitt · 15/03/2023 12:28

@Sparklesocks Is it subsidising my lifestyle choice to have a child, or a way to keep me in work and paying taxes/supporting the economy?

It's both tbf

WigglyWigglyWiggly · 15/03/2023 12:29

Parents aren’t being given funding because they had a child. A child, an entirely separate human being, is being given funding provision for something that they need.

I assume you don’t accept things that are tax payer funded OP? Like schools, hospitals, roads, the courts, firefighters… oh, wait, you do take those things are you’re actually saying the things you personally benefit from should get more funding…

The government isn’t there to solely fund things that are used by Sunshine236

ÉireannachÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ · 15/03/2023 12:31

Sunshine236 · 15/03/2023 12:11

Does everyone think childcare should be paid for?

It's controversial but why do some people feel entitled to be monetarily supplemented because they’ve had a child?

It’s surely a lifestyle choice and people should ensure they can afford to have children?

For sure there should absolutely be a safety net for those who have had children and circumstances change seeing them need urgent support, but I’ve read people earning £100k are receiving some kind of support each month and now we're looking to provide further free childcare.

There are so many other issues such as social care, NHS funding etc that need funding which money could go towards, rather than supplementing people who are already receiving a decent salary just because they’ve had a child/children?

Tell me you're not a parent, without telling me you're not a parent 🙄

bubbles2023 · 15/03/2023 12:31

It's important that parents have access to affordable childcare to allow them to work. We have massive shortages in the teaching and nhs workforce, which female's predominantly make up. It's usually women who take a step back/ go part time so I'm all for providing choices to allow women (but fathers too) go to work if they want to.

Yes children can be a lifestyle choice but the alternative is nobody has them, or only the very rich. Who then is going to care for the elderly and bring future revenue through taxes into the country.

Divorcedalongtime · 15/03/2023 12:31

We don’t want to increase the pay gap between men and women with children and by not having free childcare we do.

WigglyWigglyWiggly · 15/03/2023 12:31

KimmySchmitt · 15/03/2023 12:27

@Ovidnaso @stargirl1701 Umm, due to access to contraception and the fact women now have choice in whether to procreate or not, having children is a lifestyle choice.

Excited Happy Birthday GIF

Yes, but it’s a “lifestyle choice” that benefits the country and the economy and so the government is aiming to facilitate that lifestyle choice in order to benefit the nation as a whole.

WigglyWigglyWiggly · 15/03/2023 12:31

WigglyWigglyWiggly · 15/03/2023 12:31

Yes, but it’s a “lifestyle choice” that benefits the country and the economy and so the government is aiming to facilitate that lifestyle choice in order to benefit the nation as a whole.

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Ignore the gif, I must’ve tapped it by mistake 😂