‘Children who have brothers and sisters often have better social development than an only child. The government should therefore give money to parents to have two or more children. ’ What do you think about this proposal? v.1

In the past, due to high levels of infant mortality and the unavailability of birth control methods, families tended to be extensive. Recently, there has been a marked reduction in the number of babies born. The percentage of children who are growing up without siblings is definitely on the rise and leading experts have suggested that this trend could be damaging. However, I find the proposal to offer a financial incentive for parents to have extra children quite frankly appalling and abhorrent. The first point worth making is that even if it could be proved that those who grow up surrounded by siblings are more mature and better adapted to society, it does not naturally follow that society would be healthier if everyone had this background. Variety is necessary in order for a culture to be harmonious and successful. Even though those from large families might have better communication skills, only children possess other abilities like determination, independence or higher levels of concentration. It is precisely the interaction of individuals with different strengths, weaknesses and character traits which makes society stronger. In addition, it could be argued that this policy would have several unfortunate consequences. Parents who only wanted one child might be attracted by the possibility of receiving a payment for a second one, resulting in unwanted and unloved babies being born. Furthermore, revenue wasted on this strategy could not be used to fight poverty or build infrastructure. Finally, childless couples may resent public funds being used to incentivise others to produce more babies. In conclusion, I see absolutely no benefits to paying parents to increase the size of their family. I would be upset if any government attempted to implement this approach. It would suggest to me that the political leaders concerned did not have a fundamental grasp of how the world works.