To think people on here expect only the rich to have children?

[Geraldinefox]

I've seen so many posts in which people say 'Oh 50k is certainly not enough to raise a child on.'

Or, 'you should only consider having a baby when you have at least a year's salary in savings.'

Many people have children with far less and the reality is they're absolutely fine.

Should care assistants, retail staff, nursery staff etc. Just never have a child then?

@Starlightstarbright3 not really. You're doing caring responsibilities & essentially benefits are being paid for that, so it's a bit different to just fancying more time with your kids & not being bothered to work for an extra £4 an hour + expecting the tax payer to pick up the slack

There is lots of talk in Japan about the need to reverse the declining birth rate. Issues include lack of available workforce, lack of tax revenue raised which causes all sorts of problems when the older population exceeds the working age population, threats to national security etc.There are many reasons contributing to the birth rate crisis there, some of them cultural, but a lot of it is down to the expense of having children. They government there has had to put in a number of financial measures to try to encourage people to have more children.

Not my argument for not having them, just responding to a PP who said we will need toilet cleaners etc. Considering how fast technology is moving and the fact that the people whose job it is to know these things, all warn that it is low level manual jobs which will go first, then it's not science fiction.
My argument for only having 1 is that's what we could afford at the time without needing state financial support.

It's very idealised for people to say benefits are 'just a safety net' and 'you shouldn't rely on tax payers'. The reality is that the majority of jobs in the UK do not pay enough to have a family on. Either you pay people enough or you give them extra support via taxing other wealth. You can't have you cake and est it. A nurse earning 30kish can't afford a baby yet she effectively takes a massive pay cut in what should be a well paid profession. 'We're funding her lifestyle'. No, she is effectively funding yours by providing healthcare at a low cost. Complete idiots.

@Chichimcgee you're obviously a troll, why waste your time like this?

I think the real question here is why is it that it’s unaffordable to have a child for the very vast majority of workers, even in an environment where most families have two incomes.

Local cost of living / your own support network is very relevant in this too OP - where I live you couldn’t afford a child on less than £50k as a one bed flat + childcare would be more than your entire take home pay.

People should be able to afford a home and a couple of kids on average salaries. That this is not attainable is a failure of government / policy IMO.

Not the same things at all though is it ? You are talking about benefits. Are you expecting your benefits to just stay the same despite earnings some money yourself? Ridiculous.

Exactly.

When I hear 'people should pay their way' I totally agree, but that does include paying for the services they use at a rate that means the people working in those services can do more than survive on the bare minimum, because they don't just exist to serve other people, or not survive and thus not be available to provide those services.

Just as entitled to expect other people to effectively subsidise a service you want or need to assist/improve your life for less than they can live a life on. While moaning they get support to enable them to survive in order to actually be available to provide that service.

If you don't want the tax payer supporting low incomes then you'll have to pay more for those services to start with if you want them.

I'm not. Like pp I have a disabled child which is why I don't have to work. He's at school so I could work but I don't have to and I'm not willing to lose money when I don't have to. Just because someone has a different opinion and different values doesn't mean they are a troll

My friend has a disabled child and she is still working as a solicitor. It all comes down to your choice not to work.

It's women like my friend who pay tax to support you.

@Polarnight

"My friend has a disabled child and she is still working as a solicitor. It all comes down to your choice not to work.

It's women like my friend who pay tax to support you."

Absolutely disgusting comment.

I should add that every time your friend comes into contact with the state for herself or her child (education, health, bins, parks, roads, carers) every tax payer is helping to fund that but I doubt you'd be saying that to her.

You seem to forget everyone is paying so everyone can get something out. No one is an island and all that

Yes it is my choice and I choose not to, that doesn't make me a troll, I have different priorities and wasting my life working isn't one of them

Working should be the default position for every member of society and then adjusted according to circumstances. If everyone took your view then there would be no-one left to pay your benefits to allow you to have the luxury of choosing not to work.
Having adults in work is how the state can afford to have universal health care, schools, police etc.

But you are happy for other people to waste their lives working in order to fund you not working?

Blame the system then. I doubt many people would choose work given the option

Thats pretty much it. She's just lazy and selfish.

I really don't care what anyone else does with their life to be honest.

I don't think this post makes the point that you thought it was.
If your friend was capable of earning well over £100,000, then why didn't she go to college and start her career before having children? Then she wouldn't have had to bring them up on benefits and they could have had the advantage of her high paying job.

I'm not lazy or selfish, I have different priorities is all

You're both lazy and selfish. Hope you end up impoverished in old age ad the pension is gone and you never worked. You deserve it.

There shouldn't be an option not to work if you are capable. How the hell do you think the government gets the money to pay for benefits?
Up until today I actually never minded paying tax to support people who couldn't work/were very low paid because this is what society is and I honestly never believed the "benefits scroungers" stereotype, however you have made me do a 180 on this. I am fuming that as a mum I have worked full time, never claimed 1 benefit in my whole life inc child benefit and always took pride in this, just so that you can choose not to work and sit at home whilst other mums like me support you to do that!

There are definitely benefit scroungers out there. I'm not one because I have a disabled child so I'm not playing the system or anything, I could work because he's at school but I don't have to

Yes you are, you say yourself you could work but choose not to. That's the definition of a benefit scrounger. If we all took your attitude then society would collapse

Well after a lifetime of relaxation, holidays, swimming, reading, pottering in the garden and putting savings away I'm sure I'll survive. Wishing that on someone who doesn't work because they have a disabled child is lovely 😊

How many carers do you think work? I work by caring for my son 35+ hours a week which is why I get carers allowance. I have time when he is at school where I could technically get a job is all