British Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne are at odds about the child benefit. Osborne wants to cut it to households where the wage-earner brings in more than 42,745 pounds per year, saving treasury 2.4 billion pounds, but David Cameron is not so sure, he thinks it will punish the already cash-strapped middle-class and stay-at-home mothers.
The child benefit has come under scrutiny and it looks like the British would like to scrap it altogether. They now realize it was a bad idea because it rewards childbirth, no matter what the circumstances. If a young single teenager finds out she's pregnant, there isn't a problem, the state will take care of her.
Now that it's too late, they see the light - the state should only give an incentive in circumstances which are advantageous for society. While the benefit exists, Britain’s rate of fatherless children born to single mothers continues to rise and generations of British children are growing up without a father, which in turn has obvious consequences for the child which eventually impacts on society.
It was originally thought that the child benefit payment should be paid directly to the mother because there was a risk that the male would squander it on drink or gamble it away but the result has been an absolute disaster. Since it was introduced, there is no incentive for men to marry and experts are trying to think of ways by means of incentives, to bring men back into the family to try and heal Britain's broken society.
Lone parenthood is itself a major cause of child poverty and as well as needing sufficient food and shelter, children desperately need their fathers.
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