Flybytheseat
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Agree which is exactly the reason I wont be voting for populists dreamers such as Sinn Fein in the next election. Love the hidden profile btw.
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Maternity, Paternity pay etc.
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Gordon Gekko
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BillTaxman
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Young educated Irish people in employment emigrating to have their children abroad is a profound loss to the nation economically, culturally, socially etc.
Hopefully the op does not take your advice
Won't be going down that road again...
And I (we) are lucky and will manage.
I must say I am surprised at some of the views on here.
BillTaxman
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It's not about you or any one individual or their particular circumstances managing or thriving etc.
Large portions of the world including Ireland face acute demographic challenges in the coming decades that cannot be ignored. Encouraging affordable family formation (particularly among native productive citizens) should be a key priority of the state.
I agree 100%. I started this thread on the back of my experience / previous ignorance but it's not about me more my surprise at the system.
Not to go too political but the most dangerous statement I've heard was Mary Lou's regarding the demographics looking after themselves.
I am skeptical that any political party will address the issue as it's a slowly developing one but a solution isn't possible last min.
BillTaxman
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Fully agree, Ireland is in somewhat of a better position than some other European countries but on the same trajectory and our birth rate has gone through the floor in the last number of years yet this never seems to be worthy of serious political discussion.
The easy last minute solution foisted on us will be massive replacement levels of migration to prop up the system which we are already seeing in many countries.
Hopefully, we can avoid this outcome and decide to reproduce ourselves but I feel the current ruling ideology is incapable of having these conversations (ironically particularly Sinn Féin)
About what specifically?
The reality is the single biggest contributer to carbon footprints is having a child and bringing another person who consumes energy into the world! Should we be subsidising that given the climate crisis?
theconversation.com
How family planning could be part of the answer to climate change
You’ve changed your lightbulbs, you recycle, you’ve retrofitted your house, cycle when you can, and drive an electric car when you can’t. You’re doing your bit to reduce your carbon emissions and prevent…
theconversation.com
BillTaxman
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We are an aging society which will become much more apparent over the coming decades. Encouraging Irish people to have children will at best stabilise the population but probably in effect slow the decline to a more manageable level to avoid serious issues in the worker to retired ratios.
A basic function of the Irish state should be the continuance of the Irish people, the system will demand a certain level of population/workers in the future. Those people can either be the children/grandchildren of the Irish people alive today or they will be immigrant workers who will replace the children Irish people didn't have. I'd prefer the former but I think many people are indifferent or actively would prefer the latter unfortunately.
Your continued use of "replace" is odd.
BillTaxman
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Why?
Irish people have a total fertility rate of approx 1.7 which is now well below 2.1 (the population replacement level) and falling fast. This is still better than many developed countries like Korea which are I believe at approx 0.8 but the downward trend is clear over the last number of years.
When we are in our old age we will require workers to fund our pensions out of current exchequer spending and probably direct care in nursing homes, hospitals etc.
If the state does not encourage Irish people to have more children this work will still have to be done and we will have to rely heavily on immigration to replace the future Irish workers that were not born.
As said above, infinite population growth is not possible or desirable - however depopulating too fast will cause major decades long economic (+social and cultural issues) for the state.
It would seem that the government should use our comparatively good demographic situation to encourage young couples via affordable family formation policies to have a reasonable amount of children to aim for a total fertility rate in or around 2.1 thus softening the demographic landing. The compounding effect of population growth means the sooner we take this seriously and invest in affordable family formation policies like increased parental leave etc the less drastic measures will have to be taken later on.
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The only part I disagree with is the "replace future Irish workers that were not born". You can't replace someone who isn't born.
I suppose you could say that you are replacing the tax from Irish people moving to retirement age by tax from younger immigrants.
I'm not sure if you are aware of not but you're reference to "replace" sound very much like references to the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory.
The reality is the single biggest contributer to carbon footprints is having a child and bringing another person who consumes energy into the world! Should we be subsidising that given the climate crisis?
How family planning could be part of the answer to climate change
You’ve changed your lightbulbs, you recycle, you’ve retrofitted your house, cycle when you can, and drive an electric car when you can’t. You’re doing your bit to reduce your carbon emissions and prevent…
This is an extremist view that should be broadly ignored.
There are c. 60,000 live births in Ireland every year, mostly to women whose annual earnings are between €36k-€48k on average (2020). In reality, such schemes are usually brought in with a relative and absolute cap on the benefit. The average age of a woman giving birth last year was 31, the marginal cost of any benefits would reduce in environment that encouraged women to give birth earlier (smaller salary on which benefits would be based).
Not that money is any sort of obstacle in modern Ireland, its will.
eco-derangement syndromeThe reality is the single biggest contributer to carbon footprints is having a child and bringing another person who consumes energy into the world! Should we be subsidising that given the climate crisis?
How family planning could be part of the answer to climate change
You’ve changed your lightbulbs, you recycle, you’ve retrofitted your house, cycle when you can, and drive an electric car when you can’t. You’re doing your bit to reduce your carbon emissions and prevent…
Reminds me of the Frankie Boyle joke... If you want to do something about climate change, become a cannibal. And if you really want to do something about it, eat a pilot.
But which is better for the environment: burying the remains or cremating them?
Earth's population when I was born was 5 billion. By the time I retire it is expected to be 10 billion. Unsustainable and ignored at our peril.
The State pays between €7,000 and €8,000 a year educating them, just as it does do my 4, as a single father with 3 of them still in education.
I disagree with other people paying for my children's healthcare costs (GP's don't do anything for nothing).
Well you probably won't, not unless you are earning significantly more than €100,000 a year.
Covered already but the world's population will top out at around 10 billion before declining significantly. At the moment Europe and North America are below replacement level birth rates and Asia will fall below that level within the next few decades. By the end of this century 4 in every 10 people on earth will live in Africa, just to cheer up the racists amongst us.The reality is the single biggest contributer to carbon footprints is having a child and bringing another person who consumes energy into the world! Should we be subsidising that given the climate crisis?
How family planning could be part of the answer to climate change
You’ve changed your lightbulbs, you recycle, you’ve retrofitted your house, cycle when you can, and drive an electric car when you can’t. You’re doing your bit to reduce your carbon emissions and prevent…
I'm indifferent while seeing the obvious positive of having a more genetically diverse population with the corresponding health benefits.
No, it'll be grand. You can ignore it. Really. Worry about what we consume and how we produce what we consume, not how many of us there are.