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

[Sunshine236]

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?

Children aren't really a 'lifestyle choice' though. You can't give then up to save money, like you can a gym membership or fancy holidays. Well, at least not without it being hugely expensive to the state.

In any case, this policy isn't intended to benefit parents per se, if that helps you to froth a little less. It has two goals to it, neither of which are particularly altruistic.

The first is to enable parents to provide better for their children. So focused on the children. At the moment, there's a trade-off between work and childcare costs which traps many lower-income families and reduces their standard of living, which is harmful for the children involved. Enabling parents to work more by increasing access to good quality childcare will improve children's welfare, aspirations and life chances, which has a default positive impact on society as a whole, as it's the state/government that has to pick up the pieces when things go wrong in families.

The second is a straight-out economic calculation. If childcare is too expensive, parents (mostly women) leave the workforce, either temporarily or permanently. This costs money in benefits and lost taxation. There are huge tax gains to be had (not just now but future tax gains) from keeping these women in the workforce progressing their careers.

I’m just hoping people will go back to work so organisations can employ staff to answer their phones. I’m fed up with spending several hours of the day listening to ‘your call is important to us’ messages.

Misses point of thread.

Having children is NOT a lifestyle choice!
children are not a hobby, being a parent is necessary (albeit unpaid) work which has to be done to produce the next generation of humans in order for society to continue!
We have a free education system, OP do you see this as a special favour to facilitate the lifestyle choices of parents?
The reason we have a free education system is so that employers can benefit from an educated workforce!
Ditto health care and other forms of childcare.

If only people who could afford to work and pay for childcare had children, the human race would die out 😂 in this country anyway.
Unfortunately, our current set up does not allow this. Unless we stop expecting cheap services, where staff are poorly paid, we will never get out of this cycle.

YABU.

I for one am over the moon that there is one less obstacle for women (and lets be real it is mostly women) to return to work and/or carry on their careers.

I say this as someone who has children over the age range they've just announced so will have no benefit from it.

Especially since early years education is so important.

It's always going to be annoying paying for stuff for other people. It annoys me paying for long term unemployed. No excuse not to get a job unless you're very disabled or ill. Nevertheless, apparently I have to pay for them. That's life.

why do some people feel entitled to be monetarily supplemented because they’ve had a child?
What is wrong with you?
Having a child, being a parent, requires a huge amount of personal sacrifice, we need children to grow up healthy and well educated so that society can improve going forward. Of course parents need to be supported by wider society!

And presumably pay for their whole education and private health care until they're 18 so they're not a burden on the tax payer 😏

It does not need necessarily to be free to be valuable support. I am concerned that free at the point of use could mean limited support and mean that nurseries or other support cannot be provided. Nurseries are concerned at the level of government funding.

I am not sure the change from 1:4 to 1:5 is a good thing.

Also, we have the second highest childcare cost to salary ratio in the world. Lots of other countries have free childcare for pre schoolers.

Who do you want to look after you when you're old and unable to work if care for yourself?

God, this is like the time people at my old company complained because all the employees' children got given a selection box at Christmas, and apparently this wasn't fair on the people without children because they didn't get anything..

The economy needs people to have children and it also needs people to work. Providing free childcare allows people to do both and therefore provides a net benefit.

I think the OP is on the wind up 😂🎣

Childcare should be free, just like a child's education and healthcare. Children are not 'a lifestyle choice'. They are necessary for the future of any country.

I think it's a basic acknowledgment that we are first and foremost, like every other species in the animal kingdom, dependent on continued reproduction for survival. This is our primary function, the capitalist, money based society we've built is really secondary to that. We cannot build a society where people as a rule cannot afford to have children.

How do you imagine society in 30, 50, 100 years, if most people decided against having children? I think that’s what’s meant by “evolutionary default”, not women not having access to contraception.
I really disagree with that “children are a lifestyle choice” idea - getting a dog or buying a sports-car might be, but not having children.

Absolutely.

Also, you're supporting the parents to care for their child. Because otherwise the state (essentially social services) would have to do this. And that's (a) more expensive, and (b) very much a suboptimal option for the child.

I don't think many people would argue that a child shouldn't be entitled to support. And the cheapest and best way to provide for the child is through support to the parents. You can't separate the two out... that is why we support 'families'. It's hugely expensive not to.

While you’re on it OP, let’s remove funding from schools and make it all private. People should be able to afford their own kid’s education. Let’s privatise the nhs as people should be able to pay for their own healthcare after all, most things are preventable. Broken your leg…should have been more careful, got lung cancer shouldn’t have ever eaten anything processed / smoked etc.

Aha OP is being the devil's advocado?

No i'm really interested at hearing the views and learning more than just what i've read online so this is all really interesting and helpful. And yes i am saving for my old age already and planning for this - sadly my father didn't have adequate care at all and i did move to be nearer to help him and took time off work to do this. As i said that is why i'm so interested in funding for social care and carer pay... which is still very much overlooked.

There is also the issue of an ageing population. A large % of the population will be economically inactive, but need access to all types of services.

Who is going to provide these services? And it's not just NHS or care homes- it's shops, restaurants & goods that people want/ need to spend their pensions on.

I think some childless people are very shor sighted- giving help with childcare, gives people jobs, it increases the workforce and therefore helps with economic growth... creating more jobs in different sectors.

What should parents afford tho?
So full time childcare without any assistance int 5? Wrap around childcare until 11? What about health care? Why should YOU have to pay for my sick kid? Or schooling? How is it your fault my kid needs an education? So presumably unless yo u an afford to cover every single educational and health cost and can be very certain you can do that unto they're 18, you shouldn't have kids.

But what about the kids that are born into the other 98% of families? Forced abortion of you can't prove your wage at the 12 week scan? Or just let them grow up impoverished without access to health care or education?

And what constitutes a change in circa? A child born with an unknown disability? Or acquiring one? Inflation going through the roof? Brexit? War? Tories in for years?

Exactly.

I never hear parents offering to repay society for the benefits they took, after their kids turn out to be abusers, addicts, unemployable, deadbeat parents, criminals or otherwise drains on the community. Imagine if the handouts came with actual accountability!