3 ms·

I think finances are more a concern/incentive. Consider: the government pays a salary to each married family while they raise children; the salary would be equ

I think finances are more a concern/incentive. Consider: the government pays a salary to each married family while they raise children; the salary would be equivalent to a blue-collar job, and it would scale with the number of children up to a point (e.g. 4 kids). I strongly believe that'd lead to many more marriages and childbirths. Many people not interested in raising kids would prefer it over a "regular" job. Families with adoptive children would also be paid, so it could decrease adoption difficulty and stigma as a side-effect. However, some people will game this policy, and it would be very expensive to implement.

jbiason 1y ago
Brazil have something like that: Up to 4 children, you get about 1/4 of the minimum pay from the government for each. There are some caveats, though: The children must be in school, they can't fail a year, children which reach adult age (18) do not count/get paid for anymore, and the family monthly salary can't exceed about 75% of the minimum pay[1] to be eligible. While this somewhat help lower paid families, we still have a huge number of men that just leave their families once kids appears and leave a single mother to raise the kids -- which have their own issues. [1] I may be a bit off in the values, but you get the idea.
scarface_74 1y ago
So who exactly is going to pay for this when the US already won’t be able to meet its obligations for social security and Medicare in less than 10 years? Shouldn’t we be prioritizing universal healthcare, affordable pre-K, etc first before we start subsidizing more kids coming into the world?
herbst 1y ago
> However, some people will game this policy, and it would be very expensive to implement. This is common in central Europe. In German we call that Kindergeld. It's not exactly a full salary but for some it is. Gets more with more children etc. Is expensive, gambling it is weird. Who makes a child for like 500$ a month? Some may do, but nobody cares ... One way the state also pays for children is by having them have basically free healthcare in your name. No extra costs for that in the first 18(?) years. The weird thing about Kindergeld ist that everyone gets that, no matter if you earn good or not. There are ways to get more of you are poor, but the base is basically basic income for your child. I am not sure that actually helps growth. We don't have higher birth rates than other modern countries

jbiason 1y ago

Brazil have something like that: Up to 4 children, you get about 1/4 of the minimum pay from the government for each. There are some caveats, though: The children must be in school, they can't fail a year, children which reach adult age (18) do not count/get paid for anymore, and the family monthly salary can't exceed about 75% of the minimum pay[1] to be eligible. While this somewhat help lower paid families, we still have a huge number of men that just leave their families once kids appears and leave a single mother to raise the kids -- which have their own issues. [1] I may be a bit off in the values, but you get the idea.

scarface_74 1y ago

So who exactly is going to pay for this when the US already won’t be able to meet its obligations for social security and Medicare in less than 10 years? Shouldn’t we be prioritizing universal healthcare, affordable pre-K, etc first before we start subsidizing more kids coming into the world?

herbst 1y ago

> However, some people will game this policy, and it would be very expensive to implement. This is common in central Europe. In German we call that Kindergeld. It's not exactly a full salary but for some it is. Gets more with more children etc. Is expensive, gambling it is weird. Who makes a child for like 500$ a month? Some may do, but nobody cares ... One way the state also pays for children is by having them have basically free healthcare in your name. No extra costs for that in the first 18(?) years. The weird thing about Kindergeld ist that everyone gets that, no matter if you earn good or not. There are ways to get more of you are poor, but the base is basically basic income for your child. I am not sure that actually helps growth. We don't have higher birth rates than other modern countries