Don't have kids unless you can afford them....

[R1Geezer]

On the front of some of the dailies today, a Fair statement from the governement? Should we be discouraging the "baby factory" "career scrounger" people?

[ummmm]

Your working history is not hard to prove. Benefits should be decided on that fact.

[anotheoldgit]

Trouble is no one is prepared to make sacrifices these days.

They want to have kids and hold down a job at the same time, and if they happen to have a kid they want their employer and the state to pay them for the privilege of having it

Once a married couple had to plan their family, they knew that once they decided to have a youngster it would mean one less wage going into the house.

There is obviously no going back to this, so the best way to solve the problem now is for Child Benefit to be only paid for the first two. Then if a couple wants more then it is up to them to provide for them.

[modeller]

ummmmmmm # They don't pay your mortgage. # You are partly right they only pay the interest which suits the building societies very well. That's why they offer interest only morgages. You can live in a million pound house on an interest only morgage and the state will pay the interest for you in exactly the same way as they will pay the rent if its a rented property. Other expenses like utility bills are loosely called household expenses which can also be paid for you at the discretion of the benefit officer.

[mollykins]

Yes.

[modeller]

EDDIE # Married 37 years to the same person , 5 children, 10 grandchildren .#
On that basis the UKs population will rise to 200 odd million by the end of the century .
Wow ! There will be about 50 million pensioners to be supported. So that's all right then.

[naomi24]

Well said Mrs Planks - and well done! Absolutely right!!

[sandyRoe]

Nobody, apart from pensioners with the winter fuel allowance, get s help with utility bills. Imagine trying to live on benefits. A couple get around £120 a week, a single person about half of that.

[naomi24]

You shouldn't be able to live permanently on benefits at all - kids or no kids. The welfare system is supposed to be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice.

[modeller]

sandy, Eddie You are ignoring the fact that you don't have to live on the basic benefit. As soon as you receive that benefit it triggers off all the other benefits. Community charge , rent , morgage interest , prescription charges, dental check ups, plus the loosely worded help towards household expenses which can include utility bills.

[R1Geezer]

All sounds feasable Eddie but the problem is that all those kids don't row up and work, they mostly think that having their own brood is a carreer move and hence the attitude is propagated.