Rant Baby bonus

I dunno if this is happening anywhere else in the world, but here in Australia, some stupid politicians decided to give any citizen a $3000 bonus for having a baby. They then raised this to $4000. In july, they plan to raise it to $5000.

Even when it was $3000, there were young girls, like 12 years old, having a baby soley for the reward of the huge amount of $3000 - these little kids couldn't even imagine what they could buy with that much. Plenty of druggies & alcoholics got pregnant for the money aswell, not to mention working class people that didn't want a kid but for $3000, why not? Even more stupid people started getting pregnant when it hit $4000, i do not want to see what is going to happen when the bonus hits $5000

It's really serious, there are druggies having one kid after the other, and they spend the bonus within a week or two of the baby being born, on drugs - some druggies have like 7 kids now, no bs! There are reports of this everywhere around here.

I have said from the start, that it was a stupid idea, it will do nothing but breed a generation of poorly raised kids, that will probably become an utterly disgracefull generation. When the grant was first introduced, i wondered that since they just wanted to give parents an incentive to help the country grow, why they didn't just offer vouchers of some sort, that can be used only on things such as health care, child care, nappies, a single pram & a single cot. That way, you won't get anywhere near the amount of problems you are having now.

I hear that they are finally planning to introduce a voucher scheme that can only be used on infant goods, but that they are planning to only do this for known alcoholics & drug addicts! How stupid, this should be for everybody - not only because many drug addicts are unknown, but there are many people having kids just for the extra cash, they don't really want a kid. I dunno what australia is gonna be like in 15-20 years, when this generation of bogans have grown up I guess we hear about messed up kids doing bad things in other places of the world, hopefully these kids don't grow up to do messed up stuff here Stupid government, how can stupid people end up being the ones that run the country?

 

Sadly every system introduced by a government which is introduced to do some good is abused by a minority. That's the way it works I'm afraid.

 

President Nicolae Ceauşescu of Romania introduced policies in 1966 to try and increase the country's birth rate. Disaster ensued.

 

didnt they do something early last year in britain for pregnant women, something to do with food, and there was a big issue over how they should give it out? I do think people DO need help when babies arrive, they are expensive and having the worry over how to pay for a pram or whatever is the last thing a new mother needs. HOWEVER. I do believe if governments are going to start handing out help to people when they have babies, or rewards or however you want to put it, it should be done in a sensible way which people cant abuse. For example, in uk, the 250 pound trust fund system, its help... because that might be part of tuition fees/ driving lessons etc when they are older but its put in trust... not just given to be abused. The food thing- it should be given out like milk vouchers etc, so it cant be abused. However. People will always find a way to abuse the system and there will always be a minority who abuse it no matter how hard people try to prevent it

 

There is no such thing as a system that can't be abused, but it does seem like there could have been a little more forethought put into this one.

Of course, I'm just biased against anything that encourages people to breed!

 

That is obviously just a bad idea.

 

I used to be a baby, where is my free money?

 

$5,000 per child? I bet people with a history of twins are rubbing their hands with glee!

 

Having children is a big choice to make. It is a massive responsibility that involves massive sacrifices. One has to look forward to sorrow as mush as joy. It is not a decision that should be taken easily or lightly. You should have children only when you really, really mean to have them. They will be the single most important thing you do, the single most important reason for your existence. Your life will never be your own again.

Needless to say, I chose not to have any. That's how highly I rate them.

So $3000,--, $4000,-- or $5000,--, it doesn't matter; money should never be a reason, or even an inducement for having children. As soon as you let such a superficial matter as a few thousand bucks factor into the equation, you are already making the wrong decision for the wrong reasons. As usual, politicians have got it all wrong, being the screwed up, shallow, narcissistic sociopaths that they tend to be, and are encouraging the population to think in the same screwed up, shallow, narcissistic sociopathic terms. Not that they need much encouragement.

 

LOL, absolutely brilliant, surprisingly i used to be a baby to, but unfortunately not an Australian baby, no money for me i guess....

 

OR they thought "hmm it would be nice to give new parents a bit of money to help them out", without ever stopping to think of the consequences.

 

I moved into an apartment where the prevous people had been kicked out. they had 4 kids, with another on the way. and they wanted more because the more kids you have, the more you get from the goverment if you are on welfare.

 

The sad part is that people are so desperate for money that they forget that a kid costs far more than what you get from any government on the world...
I mean sure, 3000 or 5000 sounds tempting, but hell, that wont last long once you have a kid, so people should be educated that the money wont cover the cost of having a child, maybe then they will reconsider getting pregnant for a few thousand.

 

I remember reading a report/research that someone did and it costs approx £1 million to raise a child to the age of 18. I think I've already spent twice that and she's not even 2 yet.

 

Must be one heck of a spoilt child seeing as my parents don't earn 1/2 that much in 18 years .

 

I think that report factored in the cost of education, health care, etc etc. Much like the stats for road crashes can calculate the cost of a bump, injury and death (£10,000ish, £250,000 and £1,000,000 respectively I think).

To me, it sounds like that policy was introduced by a government that was facing an election and thought that they'd buy the votes that they needed by offering people free money to have kids.

In the commercial world, that's usually called bribery and is a criminal offence...

Andy

 

No way in hell $5,000 would get me to have another child... pfft, 50,000 wouldn't do it for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I love my daughter dearly and wouldn't change having her for the world. She is pregnant now and it makes me giggle to think of all the ...ahem... fun she'll have for the next 20 years ;P

 

how about skipping the education and putting them on the streets as beggars? or use them as mules?

Scirocco congrats for becoming a grandma

 

166,000

Scirocco, although 5K wouldn't influence you, don't you think it'd be nice to help your daughter get on her feet for the new baby? In this sense I see where the government's thinking came from, but IMO the money could be better spent elsewhere.

 

When people consciously decide to have a child, even with good intentions, how many people do it for the childs sake and not becuase "I want a baby"?... If you look at it that way it's a pretty selfish act anyway.

Typical government policy really, like swiss cheese when it comes to holes in the system.