Ok,given that young parents (those who were about to or are already in their 20’s) DO spend some of their baby bonuses on luxury,booze & a lifestyle that doesn’t suit somebody who already had kids.Some may even get over-excited at the thought of a baby coming that the first thing they do once they had a hold of the baby bonus in cash would be to buy expensive things for themselves & the baby rather than think of spending the money sparingly for the basics that the child actually needs…..
It cannot be helped,though it shouldn’t be the case as the purpose of the baby bonus is it aide in the welfare of the child & assist the new (or even nth time) parents so they can afford to support their new child with regards to his basic needs like clothes,a pram that suits the bub,a nice cot,milk,nappies & so on……
BUT….
Does anybody here think it’s fair that to be able to stop young parents from spending their baby bonuses for themselves,this form of assistance should be handed out as vouchers?I,being a mother of 3(though im already in my late 30’s),though not working & was supported by the hubby,still find it hard sometimes to budget any cash in hand but at least i knew where each amount of money to be spent will go & at least try to scrimp & save so there’ll always be enough for emergency needs which i can just dig up from my purse or bank account.Can anyone use vouchers when they need to bring their kids to the GP or when they need extra funds to buy baby needs other than nappies,cots & food??Im sure not everything can be covered by vouchers,& certainly just because a few irresponsible parents wont spend their baby bonuses on their childrens needs doesnt mean ANY parent of any age group & lifestyles had to suffer along with them.I guess its best to do a screening of sort if this thing will push thru to see whose parents needed some discipline & would be eligible for the vouchering thing & whose parents should have a go to the lump sum of their baby bonuses.May sound discriminating but ey,in the long run this may make more sense than just punishing ALL parents over the mistakes of others who can’t handle their responsibilities properly.