Childless politicians: is it an issue?

[Chocchops72]

There have been lots of posts popping up on my Twitter feed pointing out that many of the leading politicians in Scotland do not have children. From Nicola Sturgeon to many of the leading Scottish Greens (who seem to be in the news and setting the pace more than other SNP MSPs).

Is this an issue? Do / would childless politicians put different policies in place compared to those with children?

I have two children, my sister has none. While she’s a great aunty and loves them deeply, I’m aware that we don’t have the same priorities in life. Her interests basically extend as far as her and her partner having a good life after they retire. She’s very much of the opinion that ‘you chose to be a parent, don’t expect anyone else to prioritise the things that you do’. An example being inheritance… I’m kind of hoping (but not banking on) an inheritance from my parents that will make my kids life easier (and my parents definitely want that). My sister is totally dismissive of this: she and her partner already have enough for them and that it’s. I totally expect her to leave all her wealth to the cat and dog home tbh, whereas DH and I are very motivated to pass as many assets and advantages as possible onto our own children. And we would favour any tax or other legal policies that support that.

what do you think?

So your sole concern about MP's without children is that they may not make decisions about inheritance which are not favourable for your children. I thought it was us, the child free by choice people, who were supposed to be selfish.

I want a government which properly funds education, develops training and apprenticeship schemes which adequately skill young people to obtain well paid secure employment, implements housing policies which won't leave young people struggling to find a secure home etc etc.

You seem to have quite a low opinion of your sister, I very much doubt she would leave any inheritance to an animal charity and why the hell shouldn't she and her partner plan for a comfortable retirement?

We are a small family, there are only two children between us, my niece and nephew have a child free Aunt and Uncle who both own homes, I suspect that, barring care costs, they will do very nicely when we die and I'll be glad to give them that advantage.

Some of us actually do believe in a thing called society, you, apparently, only believe in a thing call family.

I'm quite shocked that you would even ask the question tbh.

Your logic seems to be that your dsis is selfish and doesn't give a shit about the next generation, therefore all childfree people are selfish and don't give a shit about the next generation. Faulty logic, I'm afraid. There are plenty of childfree people who care very deeply about future generations imo.

But in any case, your own version of "caring about the next generation" is a very limited one, as it seems to be mainly focused on passing down wealth to your own children without a care in the world for the kids who might have nothing and inherit nothing.

In actual fact, I think you and your dsis sound remarkably similar in your values. You are both focused on the narrow interests of you and your immediate families without much if a sense of responsibility towards anyone else.

Personally, I would like to see politicians - parents or childfree people - who are motivated more by a sense of public duty and the greater good, rather than simply focusing on the issues that affect their own families.

Just to add, I'm a parent who stands to inheritance from my own parents and who has assets that could potentially be passed down to my dd. Given the power to make decisions, I would whack inheritance tax up way higher than current levels, so don't assume that all parents would share your views.

I think it does make a difference and we need diverse representation in politics. The main problem now is that so many politicians come from the same route and background and don't have any experience of life, kids or no kids.

The way Hancock et el made decisions in the pandemic - last minute, changing things at short notice, announcements on Twitter at 9pm to take effect the next day, showed to me that not one of them had ever had to organise a household or family, whether they actually have kids or not. Obviously they have a wife or a nanny doing it all for them.

They say they are pro-business but they think business is what their mates in the City do, not tons of SMEs up and down the country employing millions of people and actually making and building and supplying stuff and not just pushing electronic money around and making the very rich richer.

What a ridiculous comment! I thought we had rightly moved on from this nonsense when Andrea Leadsom was hammered for suggesting that Teresa May couldn't be PM because she has no children. Politicians are many & varied, just like the electorate - there is no "one size fits all".

A childfree by choice MP might take the radical decision that there is no inheritance. It can all go to the government, 50% to government and 50% to charity or to your care home fees. This would mean social care is adequately funded. This could mean more money for the NHS, for schools, for SEN support, for benefits for those on lower incomes or who are disabled. There could be mental health support.

You could equally get a childfree by choice MP that has been told by their knobby parents that inheritance is everything, so they remove all inheritance tax and leave their estate to some distant cousin 300 miles because then at least it stays in the family.

I hope my daughter is middle aged by the time she should come into any inheritance from us. She’d be much better served by having a well-funded education, provision for her if she has SEN. Support if she finds herself suffering with her mental health, as many young people do. Our estate, if it doesn’t go on care fees, would then go into paying back what our daughter had benefitted from and the next generation could benefit from that. That generation would in turn look after my daughter as she ages, providing her with decent health and social care.

Having children doesn’t make you a good MP. Not having children doesn’t make you a good MP. Being able to take a step back and examine the wider picture, for the benefit of most people is what makes you a good MP.

They were the first two that came to my mind when thinking about politicians with loads of kids.

And what examples they are!!

I also came here to remind @Chocchops72 how well this argument went down when Andrea Leadsom tried to use it in the 2016 Tory leadership election!

Yes, parents should be politicians so that good laws can be made to protect them and their children, but so should non-parents, particularly as it seems increasingly common for people to remain child-free/less.

I'm very happy that some politicians don't have kids, it means there's a slim chance that I might feel represented. I am single, childless and approaching middle age. I feel increasingly marginalised.

I think if you’re Scottish you will understand what the OP is thinking, whereas if you’re English it will seem insane.
The SNP and Scottish greens have tried to introduce so many dodgy policies towards children and seem to lack understanding of how competent the average teenager is.
Eg, named person, changing gender from 8 years old, becoming MSPs from 16 etc, plus poor education and laws regarding not prosecuting under 25year olds for eg rape.

But there are plenty of child free people who think this is insanity. And plenty of parents who are falling over themselves to signal how “progressive” they are in embracing (e.g.) gender ideology. This is a question of ideology, not reproductive status.

Yep.

It's humanity and empathy that are missing in some people. It doesn't matter whether they have children or not.

YANBU OP. I’m sure you’ll get flamed, but having politicians who haven’t raised children doesn’t lead to good outcomes in policy.

At the next election Labour will have a lot of male politicians who are childless. They will not make policy in women’s interests.

You sound appalling
I'm infertile
You definitely make me want to vote for the childless

Yes, you'd think Sturgeon being a woman would realise that men can't be women and should never be in women's prisons, shelters, changing rooms, etc, but no ...

What a nasty thread. OP, do you not realise that many women reading this are struggling with infertility. You've just told them that they are worth less than women who have had children. Not only is this incorrect, you have probably really hurt some readers.

I'm scottish and think OP is quite batshit. Or on the wind up.

Oh give over. I'm childfree, doesnt make me an idiot. Nor does having children make someone smart - you and the OP are evidence of that. I think it's abhorrent that rapist wasn't jailed in Scotland and the gender nonsense is exactly that, nonsense. I don't need to have reproduced to care about our society and have an informed opinion. A lot of SNP and Green politicians have children and so do their supporters. But let's not let facts get in the way of bashing those without children.

@Chocchops72 you clearly think you are better than your sister because you have children. However your post makes you sound just as selfish as you accuse her of being. You want to put your wants above those of others, just because they are different wants to your sister's doesn't make you any less selfish.

Why do you think childfree/childless people do not deserve representation in parliament? Do you really think we are worth less than you?

@VestaTilley

How unpleasant

Care to elaborate some more on how being a mother makes you superior ?

💯

So basically its all about how much money you can give your children instead of encouraging them not to be lazy and to earn their own. Unless your children have severe disabilities your policy is all about entrenching inequality.

So don't run for office. Given your obvious selfishness and lack of intellectual capacity to think outside your own little square you'd be a dead loss.

far more important that they have an interest in private companies that run nurseries, so that they can prioritise free childcare.

Better than Boris having so many he can't keep count of all the multitudes he's spawned .

Thatcher was a mother but look how cold and uncaring she could be.
Tried to brand Nelson Mandela a terrorist!

BF is older than me and still refers to her as Maggie Thatcher - the milk snatcher , as they she stopped free milk at his nursery/infants school.
Local council took up the financial burden for schools in his area, but that stopped by time he was about 7.