Government encouraged to ''rethink childcare vouchers and tax benefits''

The new coalition government has been encouraged to rethink the direction of benefits offered to families in order to keep the UK population under control.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate the number of people living in the UK could rise by ten million over the next 20 years.

A report by Forum for the Future has recommended the government change the structure of benefits for those in work to reflect the need to keep population levels sustainable.

"Current tax structures and family leave structures give us a system where taxpayers and employers have effectively agreed to provide continually increasing levels of support for a family of any size," the Growing Pains report said.

It called for adjustments to tax breaks, childcare vouchers and maternity leave pay to help society regulate the population, as the report claims environmental issues make an extra ten million people an unsustainable number.

Journalist Fred Pearce told the Ecologist that the immigration debate was distracting from issues regarding consumption and resources.
Back