Maternity leave discrimmates against men. Right? Should we have higher tax bands for parents?

Question

their kids are a drain on state resources!!!

Answer 1

please give us a break,and get a life.

Answer 2

Too true mate.

I am fed up paying for other people to have children.

If you can't afford kids, don't have them

.

Answer 3

I assume you are talking about the UK as your question was posted in the UK section...

How exactly? Men are entiitled to maternity leave as well, its a fairly new law designed to assist families with the pressures of a new baby.  

Introducing a higher tax band for parents would discriminate against those with children and further plunge low paid families into poverty, which impacts upon their budget for essential items such as food and heat. So no, penalising parents is not the way.There are at least 100,000 more children living below the poverty line this year than there were last year, we need to get that down, not up. See a review of the child poverty stats here

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/39_...

Answer 4

They are also our future ..

Answer 5

Those 'kids' will be the ones funding your state pension.You aren't paying your NI conts into your own personal pension pot. You are funding the pensioners NOW. My kids will fund yours...and it's the kids being born now that will probably end up wiping your backside in a nursing home when you are old.  

Answer 6

Err, no.

It is the children who will be paying for our pensions when we retire.

If anything parents should be taxed less as raising kids is expensive, people without kids have a much higher disposable income and could afford to pay a little more tax.

Answer 7

your not a parent i take it, wait until you have kids and then you'll see.maternity leave doesnt discriminate men either, i have friend who has a 7 mnth old and she goes to work instead of the father,he had paternity leave.you see?

Answer 8

I'm guessing you haven't got kids, but i would like to remind you that you were once a kid. You once drained state resources and people with kids have to pay for them so why give more money to the state? point proven

Answer 9

The two parts of your question are not related.

Let's look at the discrimination angle first.  Fathers are entitled to paternity leave, mothers are entitled to maternity leave.  Would you be happier if we called it parental leave?

Now maternity pay is another matter.  At the moment the law excludes men from claiming this but the point is academic as to qualify you have to become pregnant.

Now moving on to your second point - should parents pay more tax than childless taxpayers?

For some considerable time the government has given tax reliefs to parents.  I suppose this started as a result of the consequences of war where a significant number of the younger generation were destroyed,  Tax reliefs encouraged the replenishment of this stock. In view of the shifting demographics caused by the 'baby boom' after the Second World War we still need to encourage the creation of a larger workforce to generate the income which will pay our pensions.

Like you, I do not like to see these single mothers who seem to have children purely to increase their benefits.  The fathers are not disclosed (and therefore pay nothing to the child's upkeep) and often the children move into an adulthood on benefits.  In reality, though, I think there are relatively few cases like this.  If you could devise a system which would penalise these people (without harming the innocent children involved) then I'm sure the government would like to know.  Meanwhile, although a few individuals rob the rest of us, the current system roughly achieves its aims.

Answer 10

so you are advocating survival of the fittest right?

Answer 11

no, if people want kids they should be prepared to pay for them growing up, theres too many hand outs which make it easier for people to have kids just for the extra money, most of them don`t even want kids just the cash.

Answer 12

Maternity leave doesn't discriminate against men. I'm betting you have never had a girl friend. We should have lower tax bands for parents in order to support them raise children who will later contribute to the economy.