mantra wrote on May 5
th, 2011 at 11:45am:
Quote:Seeing as how all kids born in australia in the last ~10 years have attarcated the bonus, how can you compare? Living was a lot more affordable pre-baby bonus, yes?
Living was more affordable because we consumed less. Do you believe that just because a child momentarily has the best that money can buy that it will sustain it for the next 18 years?
Howard introduced the baby bonus, not just because it was his usual porkbarrelling style, but because he allowed an open slather property market for foreign investors with all sorts of concessions - which immediately created a real estate bubble. Properties tripled in value during Howard's reign and so did mortgages.
I say children were cared for more because there was less demand for both parents to work full time and at such a frenetic pace. Today for working parents - it's up at the crack of dawn, dropping the child off for long day care and at the end of the day when a parent is exhausted - can they offer that child the care they so desperately need?
I've heard many children say they only want one thing - and that's for their parents to give them a little of their time.
In the last decade or so - consumerism has become rampant, but at what cost to families. The baby bonus was in my view, a stop gap appeasement as the weight of debt began crippling prospective parents - but it has been abused and is now out of control.
True, and I see rampant consumerism as a real problem, but denying help to new families won't undo the mess that the baby boomers have created in their rapacious quest for wealth. You can't blame young families for doing what they have to do, just to keep a roof over their head and food on the table.
Children no longer take priority, in most cases out of necessity - I'm sure if people could afford to survive on 1 income, and have the other partner look after the children, they would, but unfortunately, when just the rent, let alone a mortgage costs half the average pay packet, people need to make ends meet somehow, and it is the children who pay the price. But so long as the gubbermint can say 'the conomy grw by X%' it doesn't matter to them.