Coalition prepares another raid on child benefit

Stopping at age 16 is common sence. If children go on to college, which is most likely as I don't suppose any 16 year old has a chance of getting a job, then the majority will receive the European Education Maintenace Grant which I believe is £30 per week until they are 18.

If the child receives the EMG why should the parents still receive child benefit?

Seems like a good idea. While they are addressing the problem, how about restricting benefit to a maximum of 2 children per parent thus avoiding the possiblity of multiple spawning in our disfunctional society.

I certainly agree that the benefit should be restricted to a maximum of two. However why not scrap the benefit altogether. If people want families then they must be able to fund them. The country is already overpopulated, so let's not encourage any unnecessary births. Then the money saved from the benefit could go towards paying less tax. Less tax might mean more affordable children.

This scare story about ending Child Benefit at 16 has been denied now.

I am happy for intelligent, hard-working, high-earning couples in stable marriages to have as many children as they wish to and are able to support. They pay more tax than lower earners, and child benefit only gives them a little of their own money back, so they can keep it and the state will still gain from the deal.

As for the others, for example promiscuous fathers who scatter their wild oats far and wide and can't support all their progeny: or lone mothers lumbered with four or five kids, all with different fathers, the state can't carry on supporting them in fags and booze. Unfortunately it's not the children's fault, so a civilised society can't leave them to starve barefoot on the streets. Targeted subsistence management should be the answer, but it's elusive. Perhaps voluntary charities should be given more support to meet this problem, rather than do it through an expensive and bureaucratic DSS.