IEA Editorial and Research Fellow Len Shackleton has been quoted in The Daily Telegraph highlighting some of the difficult choices facing policymakers on welfare reforms amid an ageing population.

Len said:

“Any reform of child support always runs the risk of plunging some groups into serious poverty, but our current system produces perverse incentives and is not a good look politically. It needs to be changed. Having large families should be a personal choice supported by the parents who can afford it and are prepared for the lifestyle. It should not be a choice apparently encouraged by the benefit system.

“There is a case for doubting whether levels of financial support currently on offer have much effect on the birth rate, but it is certain that our current set-up is illogical and confusing. Different eligibility rules and financial cut-offs apply to support for children, for child benefit and for free childcare. 

“Perhaps we should be encouraging childless couples to have a child, parents of one child to have two, or parents of two children to have one more. But very large families may not be good for parents or children, and a high proportion of such families are likely to be a continuing heavy burden on the taxpayer.”

Read the full article here.

Len was also quoted in The Daily Mail.