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November 28th 2008 06:00
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Means Testing the Baby Bonus
May 22nd 2008 04:55
If you’ve been following Australia’s recent budget announcements, you would have heard that the Federal Government has decided that the baby bonus of $5000 will be means tested. The more and more I think about this, the more I am in two minds about it. Means testing the baby bonus so that households earning $150, 000 p.a do not receive it, has really got my semi-socialist and feminist minds in a tug-of-war.
On one hand, pensions shouldn’t go to those who can afford to raise a child independent of the baby bonus. As Ross Gittens said in his Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece, a household income of $150, 000, pa, isn’t necessarily rich, but it sure isn’t poor Really Long Link I tend to agree.
But, the baby bonus isn’t really a ‘pension’. It was designed as an incentive for Australian families and women to have children. Instead of a paid maternity leave scheme we have this (for the moment). What really gives me the craps is that it assumes that the man is the sole breadwinner in the house? What happens if the woman of the house is earning $90, 000 p.a, and without her income, the household income goes down to $60, 000 p.a. Without the baby bonus, there is hardly an incentive for high achieving, working mothers to have children (other than the bliss of children etc etc). This policy choice may appear to be gender neutral but it comes from a position that clearly assumes males are still the major breadwinner in all households. In any case, women should be financial supported for making the choice to come off work and raise children-our country’s future.
I have my problems with the logic behind the baby bonus, but I think that it should be applied universally as recognition of the need for paid maternity leave, and the sacrifice a lot of working mothers make to have children.
On one hand, pensions shouldn’t go to those who can afford to raise a child independent of the baby bonus. As Ross Gittens said in his Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece, a household income of $150, 000, pa, isn’t necessarily rich, but it sure isn’t poor Really Long Link I tend to agree.
But, the baby bonus isn’t really a ‘pension’. It was designed as an incentive for Australian families and women to have children. Instead of a paid maternity leave scheme we have this (for the moment). What really gives me the craps is that it assumes that the man is the sole breadwinner in the house? What happens if the woman of the house is earning $90, 000 p.a, and without her income, the household income goes down to $60, 000 p.a. Without the baby bonus, there is hardly an incentive for high achieving, working mothers to have children (other than the bliss of children etc etc). This policy choice may appear to be gender neutral but it comes from a position that clearly assumes males are still the major breadwinner in all households. In any case, women should be financial supported for making the choice to come off work and raise children-our country’s future.
I have my problems with the logic behind the baby bonus, but I think that it should be applied universally as recognition of the need for paid maternity leave, and the sacrifice a lot of working mothers make to have children.
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Posted By: Elizabeth Elston - Category: No Category
Welcome to Mixed Business
May 20th 2008 01:02
Welcome to Mixed Business,
This blog will be my attempt to figure out the world I live in. Giving an insight into the music, arts, poltics, electronics, games and general day-to-day happenings in my realm of being.
As the title suggests, it will be a mixed bag, as I traverse through life as a student, door bitch and general citizen of life in Sydney.
Enjoy the ride, i'll try to make it as bumpy as possible
Liz
This blog will be my attempt to figure out the world I live in. Giving an insight into the music, arts, poltics, electronics, games and general day-to-day happenings in my realm of being.
As the title suggests, it will be a mixed bag, as I traverse through life as a student, door bitch and general citizen of life in Sydney.
Enjoy the ride, i'll try to make it as bumpy as possible
Liz
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Posted By: Elizabeth Elston - Category: No Category
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