Blessed Are Children–Get Them Working!

The United Kingdom, like many other nations, is confronting issues of deficit and the need to cut and cut expenses. Under current law, parents receive about $40 a week for their oldest child and about $26 a week for other children in order to ensure they have sufficient funds for basic necessities. Frank Field has been asked by the new Cameron government to examine Poverty and Life Chances with an eye to exploring new ways to assist the government in dealing with the economic crisis. Mr. Field might propose cutting off benefits to children once they reach the age of 13 since mothers no longer are so concerned to leave a 13 year old child alone and can to out and get a job. Or, there is the possibility of linking child support payments to the income level of parents. For example, if someone is earning over $250,000 a year, should they continue receive payments for child support?

At this point in time, it makes sense to end child support for wealthy families, but the idea of terminating support at age 13 is not only ridiculous but dangerous. Mothers these days can NOT simply wander into the labor market because for every job there are numerous applicants. A youngster at 13 is at a dangerous point in time and having a parent at home does assist their chances of succeeding at school and avoiding drugs and crime. Reality is there are not that many jobs available to mothers so why not have them remain at home until the job market is better?