This is just a topic I've been pondering in the last several months and thought I'd throw it out to the WM. Here in Deutschland, the government doles out cash to all families for each child. The program is commonly referred to as "kindergeld," which literally means "children money." It's not enormous, but it's not chump change either - approximately 200 Euros (about $240) per month per child. Though poor families can get this money, you don't have to be poor to get it. The purpose of the program is to help families bear the cost of having children and to help families who choose to have a parent stay home with the children. (Because I am in Germany under a Status of Forces Agreement, I do not pay most German taxes (don't pay their income tax and can at least to a point get out of paying their VAT and gasoline tax) and therefore am not eligible for the program. I could opt to pay German taxes and receive the benefit for Deez, Jr., who was born last March. I simply choose not to.)
Here's the question - would this be a good idea in the United States? I'm undecided, but consider this. We don't necessarily have a birth rate problem in the US, but we do have an Idiocracy problem. (If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean.) Specifically, degenerates crap out kids every five minutes. However, middle and upper middle class families often delay having children partly for financial reasons. That's a bad thing.
So here's my proposal. (Again, I don't endorse this, but I'd consider it.) You give out a per child benefit to families. However, it has specific terms and conditions. The amount could be comparable to the German program's amount, but that's certainly open to debate.
A few conditions. First, there is an income ceiling but also a floor. The program doesn't exist to give cash to rich people, but it's not there to subsidize Walmart either (like EITC, Medicaid, etc. do). The floor could be $50K of annual combined family income, and the ceiling could be $200K.
Second, only married couples can get the benefit. This program doesn't exist to help single moms keep banging and getting pregnant by legions of desperate dudes. We have enough programs geared toward that. In addition, the husband living in the house with the mother must be the biological or adoptive father of at least one of the children in the home.
Third, you cannot be receiving any other government benefits (except military or veterans benefits) - no subsidized housing, no Medicaid, no food stamps, no free lunch at school, etc. Again, this is to defray the costs of bearing children to encourage responsible people to have children.
Discuss.
Here's the question - would this be a good idea in the United States? I'm undecided, but consider this. We don't necessarily have a birth rate problem in the US, but we do have an Idiocracy problem. (If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean.) Specifically, degenerates crap out kids every five minutes. However, middle and upper middle class families often delay having children partly for financial reasons. That's a bad thing.
So here's my proposal. (Again, I don't endorse this, but I'd consider it.) You give out a per child benefit to families. However, it has specific terms and conditions. The amount could be comparable to the German program's amount, but that's certainly open to debate.
A few conditions. First, there is an income ceiling but also a floor. The program doesn't exist to give cash to rich people, but it's not there to subsidize Walmart either (like EITC, Medicaid, etc. do). The floor could be $50K of annual combined family income, and the ceiling could be $200K.
Second, only married couples can get the benefit. This program doesn't exist to help single moms keep banging and getting pregnant by legions of desperate dudes. We have enough programs geared toward that. In addition, the husband living in the house with the mother must be the biological or adoptive father of at least one of the children in the home.
Third, you cannot be receiving any other government benefits (except military or veterans benefits) - no subsidized housing, no Medicaid, no food stamps, no free lunch at school, etc. Again, this is to defray the costs of bearing children to encourage responsible people to have children.
Discuss.
