dsquared (guest) meinte am 17. Jul, 13:29:
Gosh, such moralism
and once we reach the end of that compendium of cliche, we get to the following facts1. Britain is subsidising motherhood
2. Britain has a higher birthrate than other European countries (except France which also subsidises motherhood).
and the following non-facts
3. Crime is rising in the UK (it isn't)
4. Overall levels of education are falling in the UK (the opposite is the case)
Having children isn't illegal and isn't "delinquency" and shouldn't be a choice reserved to the rich. This article is a fantastic example of why an egalitarian libertarianism is much better than the kind where public policy starts and stops at the rate of income tax, to be replaced by a puckered-mouth tutting at the actual choices made by actual people.
Mahalanobis antwortete am 17. Jul, 16:55:
...
ad high birth rate:It is not the quantity that counts, it is, of course, the quality-adjusted quantity. (From an investment perspective, it could be easily argued that rich people should receive more child support than poor people).
My cousine (25 years old) saw parenting as preferable to working as a salesclerk. Since she isn't mentally retarded I attribute the fact that she ended up with three kids (originating from two different males) partially to hyperbolic discounting but mainly to ill-constructed welfare incentives. What's interesting: My mother and the parents of my cousine have a tenement near the place she lives. Before she got pregnant for a third time they offered her and her boyfriend (both unemployed) to do some work on the house (e.g. cleaning, renovating) for almost twice the minimum wage. Believe it or not, but they declined the offer and asked in the same breath whether they could have an apartment at this place...
Data is plural but I've already heard quite a couple of horror stories.
dsquared (guest) antwortete am 18. Jul, 09:43:
[It is not the quantity that counts, it is, of course, the quality-adjusted quantity.]What kind of quality-adjustment are you proposing to make under which it is possible for a large proportion of the births in the UK to be negative net contributors to the economy?
Mahalanobis antwortete am 18. Jul, 15:10:
When parents lack the mental and financial resources to adequately prepare their kids for a knowledge-based economy and can't pass on a certain work ethic alarm bells ought to be ringing. Misery breeds misery.At the end of the day, most kids will end up in low paid jobs that could either be automated or offshored. And I have to listen to stupid talk about the alleged exploitation of labour.
