Child benefit cuts hurt all of society

Cutting tax benefit is simply not the way to go. We all recognise that cutbacks were needed in the budget, and that the Government was right to bite the bullet on the necessary changes. But even when cuts have to be made, responsible choices are needed in deciding what to cut.

Child benefit is the State's way of recognising the vital work done by those who bring up children within our society. I have long believed that those of us without children should recognise the important social function of families with children. And all citizens - whether married with children or not - should support child benefit, perhaps through the payment of a family support tax. In this way, richer families could be seen to contribute, but the principle of universality in paying child benefit should be maintained.

But despite the fine words in our Constitution about the State's support for marriage and family, the reality is that successive Governments have been constrained by a coalition of politically correct interests (including a certain strain of feminism thought, family diversity ideology and laissez-faire business thinking) into forgetting their obligation towards families and family life.

We saw this in the decision to cut child benefit payments, even allowing for the fact that some families were shielded from the measure. But we saw it nearly a decade ago with the tax individualisation policy introduced by Charlie McCreevy. This heartless piece of social engineering was inspired by the idea that it was more important to have adults in the workplace than at home with their families.

A false choice, of course, but also a short-sighted policy in which the State underestimated and undermined the valuable contribution made by parents choosing to stay at home.

This kind of policy is not without consequences. People today wonder why so many problems arise with family life, why many children lack quality relationships with their parents, why fathers are absent in so many cases, why teenagers feel more insecure than ever and make bad choices, why parents are more weak-willed than they should be and sometimes seem to overcompensate for the lack of quality time with children, and all the rest of it.

It would be over-simplistic to lay this at the door of tax individualisation and child benefit cuts, of course. But these measures reflect the more general failure of policymakers and governments to recognise family life for what it is - the most important school for healthy, well-adjusted and happy citizens. It's time we saw some fresh policies designed to promote marriage and family life because too many in our society have forgotten the important contribution that they make.