Should breastfeeding mothers be given tax breaks?

[LoisLame]

From New Scientist twitter feed.

Article here

Why on earth would they be entitled to tax breaks?

I ffed on medical advice (after starting to bf) and that was expensive enough.

The article is about america but I still think it raises an important point. I guess the equivelent in the UK would be for breast pumps to be zero
VAT to help mothers who want to continue breastfeeding after returning to work (which they could be for all I know!)

Diablo82 Did you read the article at all?

Another stick to beat mothers who don't breast feed with? Erm no we shouldn't get tax breaks for that.

I imagine breast pumps are already zero rated for VAT....most medical/ safety/ desirable equipment and food is.

The article actually says that it is maternity leave that would encourage more breast feeding. We are lucky to now have that in the UK so I don't think there is a problem to fix. Anyone who is physically able, and wants to, already ought to be able to breast feed - there don't seem to be any financial or practical barriers put up by the state.

I am pretty certain I was even loaned a breast pump for free (or only nominal cost) by the NCT but that was years back.

According to a quick Google, breastpumps are 20% VAT rated, as are bottles. Both those things strike me as a bit sad, regardless of how you feed your baby. I'd support a tax break on those...

I did briefly read the article. It alluded to speculative long term health benefits. I'm not sure why tax breaks for BF mothers would be helpful and I agree with the comment about it being another stick to beat FF mothers with.

Isn't BF'ing cos of long term health benefits initiative enough?