Should you get paid for not having children?
Post categories: Civicus
| 21:06 UK time, Sunday, 22 August 2010
It's called the honeymoon package. Call it an extended honeymoon; hold off becoming parents and the Indian government will pay you for your patience.
recently looked at how well India's latest birth control initiative is doing. Over the past 12 months, some districts have been paying couples to postpone their plans for parenthood. Over 2,000 women have opted for the money in one of the pilot villages.
We asked delegates at the CIVICUS conference here in Montreal what they thought about the idea.
Mohammed from Burundi said he would reject the cash - his seven children are gifts from God. Kazzie from Bangladesh says the solution to curbing the population boom is only 'temporary,' whilst Praful from India calls the idea pure 'nonsense' and one which takes away natural rights.
Constance Uganda however would like the see the idea tried out in her home country of Uganda. And she's not alone.
Thousands of you have commented on the in reaction to this story too. Realitytrumpsbull feels that the whole world, especially Africa, should take a leaf out of India's book.
'India is one country thinking about the issue of overpopulation. Matter of fact, they're not thinking about it, they live it every day. But, how far behind them are we?'
Ardeth on the agrees
'Excellent, excellent, excellent! I wish every country did something similar to this.'
And whilst India's trying to curb its birth rates, youth populations in other countries are running low.
Japan's ageing population has been one of the factors as to why China has now surpassed it to become the . But how long can China, with its ageing population and one child policy continue to grow before it too suffers the same fate as Japan?
It's these ageing populations that make many . Its young work force means it's heading to become the fastest growing economy within 5 years. But with growing youth numbers comes a growing pressure on India's resources.
So should families with fewer kids be rewarded? Can money change mindsets or is coercion the key to population control?
