Child benefit should be capped

[ukdobby]

and whats that cover?

it costs a damn site more tbh to look after a child, ours goes through that amount in bloody toilet rolls a month

(or so it seems)

 

It shouldn't cover owt,if yer can't afford them then don't have them,you shouldn't have to rely on CB to afford kids.

[skinz]

my point excatly miss harlow.. maybe we should be like china/japan and restrict child numbers to parents.........2-4 maximum

 

 

Can you tell us all what you know about the child control systems in Japan and China?

 

When you say "parents" do you mean all parents?

[craig12]

i beleive its 2 maximum isnt it?

[bellis]

in china only one child allowed per family BUT if they pay a goverment fee they can have more

 

i think in japan they can have as many as they want:)

[fox20thc]

Child Benefit should either be means tested or scrapped and child tax credits increased.

 

Everyone from Waynetta to the Mr Brown and his family are entitled to claim it which is a tad odd. If a family are of 'substance' and child benefit is a frippery they don't need perhaps the right thing to do would be to not claim it. I know of parents who never touch the child benefit and just put it in the childs savings account every month, I know of others who rely on it to meet food bills.

[Ouija]

I'm sure I read somewhere that CB was originally introduced as a payment to women who may not get any other income (i.e. back in the day when most parents were married and the husband worked and wifey stayed at home). It does seem daft to have it going to people regardless of income, as some do rely on that money, some don't need it at all.

 

I don't think anybody has lots of kids just for CB, as it's not that much for subsequent children. But there are other benefits that they get as well.

[missharlow]

there is a point,better off families do not need child benefit.and the worse off do need it badly,it should be means tested i think.in my view anyone that wants a big family and cannot afford it should think twice about doing so.but you do get people having large families that are on benefits claiming child benefit and child tax credits to screw the system for as much as they can get.there was a time when you did not get child benefit for the first child.but its all changed now.

[rad]

Our national birth rates are actually quite low compared to the population as a whole, so it would be foolish to cap the number of children people have - and there are a lot of us that don't have children, so people having several are actually compensating for those of us that don't. With an increasingly elderly population, we need more people at the other end.

 

I work in education and the whole sector from schools up to universities is currently dealing with the fact that there are fewer children (and will be fewer teens/young adults) than in previous generations - fewer children > fewer classes > fewer teaching jobs as well fewer people entering the workforce etc.

 

Some countries may have a case for smaller numbers of children per family (although I've always thought that was a bit dodgy myself), but Britain, as with much of western Europe, has the opposite problem.

 

EDIT: this isn't a response about child benefit per se but about the quotes above about restricting children.

[Ms Macbeth]

Child benefit is one of the few universal benefits (not subject to means testing) and I think it should be left alone regardless of the number of children in a family. However, I think that the means tested benefts do need an overhaul. For instance, working people are being taxed on anything they earn over £6k a year, but the government give it back in tax credits! Surely thats the really daft system.

[skinz]

i beleive its 2 maximum isnt it?

 

 

 

You first say "2-4" then you say "2 maximum isn't it?" preceded by "maybe we should be like china/Japan".

 

It's very easy to say words without even attempting to do a little homework to find out what the consequences are of your advised action may be...don't you think?

 

Quote:

a guy on sky had a good point the other day, if youre a mp then the goverment buy the house and say thats your house , take it or leave it, much like police houses worked. End quote.

What's the relevance of the above?

 

Also...I'll repeat, are you talking all parents/couples?