Family first?

Many thanks to reader PW who sent me this link. The allowances and support given to those with children is close to discrimination against those who don’t. This is something that I have thought for a while and since I have probably managed to alienate at least 70% of the population in my past few posts I thought I would go for 100% alienation by exploring this issue a little more deeply.

Everybody has the right to have children. I would go as far to say, looking at the rest of the animal world, that the sole purpose of our existence from a biological perspective is to reproduce. The urge to reproduce is very strong and it is a great deal of (occasionally messy) fun practising. However, most of us have risen above our instincts and are able to interact with the world without swinging from trees, killing prey and fighting for a mate. Yet society still honours those who fulfil the instinct to reproduce.

I understand that there must be some economic rationale that makes the a higher birth rate desirous. The government provides incentives and support to families in the form of a baby bonus, family support payments, subsidies of various types and childcare rebates. There are two things wrong with this. Firstly, in case you hadn’t noticed, the wrong type of people are reproducing. From what I can see the majority of people who are having children are those who are least capable of raising them to be citizens who contribute positively to our society. I acknowledge that some of the people having children are worthy, have good child rearing practices and sound values. I am not talking solely about socio-economic factors. More about this below. Secondly, who is paying for these children? Everybody who pays tax. People who choose not to have children subsidise those that do.

I thoroughly support my tax being spent on free healthcare. I support it being spent on free education. I support it being spent in keeping those who are unable to work from homelessness and starvation. I don’t support it being spent to subsidise somebody else’s woe-begotten contribution to the next generation.

Let’s face it other people’s children are not the most pleasant beings out there. A trip to the supermarket on a Saturday morning sees these tiny caricatures of their parents crying, getting underfoot, riding in the trolleys I have to put my food in, being petulant, demanding and ungrateful and generally annoying – and I’m paying for them. Children I see in public are often rude, seldom considerate and frequently ignorant. Leave them at home. Or have shops for people without children. Now, again, I generalise. There are some children – I know many – who are nothing but pleasant, well mannered and the antithesis of the nightmare described above.

Their parents are rightfully proud of them. These parents are often not the one’s who are completely obsessed by their children. Why is that having children seems to make some people incapable of conversation on any other topic? Do they really destroy a person’s ability to interact with others or were their parents completely bereft of conversation before and now find themselves with an inexhaustible supply of anecdotes? Whichever the correct answer is the result is a guaranteed cure for insomnia. Unless I ask about your child…I don’t care.

It is this same mindset that prompts people to put “Baby On Board” signs in the window of their cars. Perhaps they are advertising their fecundity. Well done! You are able to reproduce! Naturally all drivers will now take extreme care not to ram your car, because without that sign…

I have noticed recently in car parks at some shopping centres parking bays next to the disabled spaces specifically for people with prams and push chairs. While I see the need for disabled people to have easy access to facilities why should people with children get priority over the childfree? It was your choice to have the child. Deal with it! Perhaps that is what the “Baby on Board” tag is for – an ACROD sticker for those lacking effective contraception. And when they get into the shopping centre itself it is these same people who expect you to get out of the way because they have their precious bundle of mediocrity in the stroller that they are aiming directly at you.

The other arena where people choosing not to have children (yes, it is a choice) are discriminated against is work. Parents get leave if their child is sick. They get to come in late if necessary and have time to attend special child things. The childfree, as noted in the article, are expected to pick up the slack. How is this fair? Why don’t those without children get the equivalent leave?

I want to make it clear that I actually like children. I am not a misanthrope of miniature people. I don’t blame children for their faults. Rather I blame their parents. If children are raised with respect, thought and care then the result are respectful, thoughtful, caring adults. Sadly too few of these model citizens are reproducing. Instead while they choose to enjoy their lives they get to support those who do have children.

One day I may choose to have children and I, too, will accept any money the government decides to give me. The point is that I would choose to have a child, or not, regardless. The money isn’t a motivator and it will be with some embarrassment that receive it. I don’t wish to be a hypocrite and, I hope, that armed with the knowledge that a “Baby on Board” sign will never adorn my car, that I will never park in special parking spot and will avoid supermarkets with my child I am sure I won’t.

Family first? I don’t think so.

Beg to differ? Agree? Leave a comment and tell me what you think.