AUSTRALIAN SOCIAL POLICY IN A SOCIETY

QUESTION

A research paper which provides an evidence-based argument in response to the following question:
How well does the baby bonus address the needs of low income people group of Australia?
Use 15 strong reference.

NOTE: The most important part of the research paper for the purposes of assessment is its content and argument. The research paper will be assessed by how well you have:

1. Provided a coherent argument that 1) sets out a series of claims, 2) supports the claims with reasons & evidence.
2. Provided a clear structure for the overall paper and a conclusion that adequately sums up the argument.
3. Has clear written expression, and well-structured sentences and paragraphs.
See attach paper page 6 option 3.
know me how much I have to pay and how?

SOLUTION

Baby Bonus for Low Income group in Australia

Introduction

Baby Bonus is a kind of reimbursement that is being given to families when there are children that are born in Australia. Currently every family is being provided with 5400 AUD whenever a baby is being born to them. This is mainly given in installments to the families so that they can take care of the day to day expenses of the new bornchild. But by September this year this amount is going to be reduced to 5000 AUD. A lot of thought has been going around to reduce the amount of compensation and thus they have finally decided to reduce the amount. Still there are lot of discussions that are happening as to whether the amount of compensation for the low income group is fine or not.

As per Steve(2006), and census report more than 40 percent of Australian population are below the poverty line andthus the government has to do something so that these people are able to feed the children in the right possible way. Their were also talks that the amount of compensation for these low income group be kept separate from that of other but now talks have been going on it as of now.  This would serve as a demotivation factor for the common man of the country as they would be a lot dejectedby the decision of the government on the same. Here, we would be discussing about the pros and cons of the decision and what impact would it have on the consumption and spending that the common man would be facing in the current economic turmoil.

The benefits of Baby Bonus

Baby Bonus mainly helps parents to plan their children in the best possible way. There are a lot of benefits for the same which are mentioned asbelow:

1. Helps in proper planning: Baby bonus isone of the element by which families are able to plan theirfamiliesandtheir children in the sweetest way. As per Brent Kelley(1996), they are able to think about it as they would be getting benefits in terms of monetary terms from the government. Thus, we can seethat how important this compensation is for the poor as they are able to get into their budget and affordthe education of it.
2. Financial help for 1 year:Families would be getting financial help for a period of 1 year. This would be a great help for the families. Initially there are a lot of expenses that are happening on the child andthis would be of a great help to incur the new expenses that would be happening to the families.
3. Helps in increasing the population base of Australia: Australia’s population is low in all contexts. This is a kind of initiative that has been taken by the government to increase the population base of Australia. By this way their would be  a lot of benefit in terms of increasing the population base andtheir wouldmore people who would be adding up to their country. As of now the immigrants from Asia and other subcontinents are more than the local population. Government would be benefited astheir would be  great raise in the local population and thus they would be able to use the local resources to the best of the advantage. Hence increasing the population baseof Australia is  akind of advantage situation astheir would be more people who would be working forthem in the coming days andthus it would be a great consumer friendly countryin the coming days.

Is Baby Bonus Sufficient

In a growing economy and expenses and inflation touching new height every day it is quite impossible for the poor to live in such kind of environment. Having kids for low income group people is a bit tough as their financial condition would not be good for that. The government should have some benefit that should be liberated to them so that there is motivation for them andthey are able to expand their family in a good way. 5400AUD would not at all be sufficient for the poor to sustain their child for 1 year. It is way below the normal limit. Hence, as per Day. D(1998) the government should try to understand the problems that are being faced by it and try to fix out the problem in the best possible way. Milk, food, shelter and all other basic amenities are very tough tohandle and it makes couples not go for anysort of children in their first five years.A lot of debates are happening in the country relating to this topic and thus we have to sort out this problem in the best possible way.

Baby bonus is not at all required by the upper middle class or for the higher start of the society. It is only needed by the lower middle class or the low income group people. They need it so that they are able to give  a lot of protection and support for their children. The upper people do not register at allfor this andthis would serve as a motivational factor for the government. A lot of money is being savedon it and it and thus the government should also compensate the lower income group people on it. In terms of sufficiencyof money, there are a lot of factors that we have to see so that we came to a valid conclusion on the same. We have to look for the vaccination that is being required for the newborn baby. We also have to look forward for the other costs that are required for the day to day running of the kids.

Apart from it if both the parents are working we also have to take  alook over the other costs that would be coming like that of getting a baby sitter for their homes. Thus we need to spend at least around 10000 AUD per year for the new bornkid.Just merely giving the poor 5400 AUD and that too reducing now it to 5000 AUD would be too harsh for the people. Hence  there should be some plan of action that the people should propose to the government andthe government should also have  a clear understanding on the samesubject matter so that they are able to do something for their children.The costs of it should be brought forward to the government so that there are mutual understanding on the same andtheir is no problem with the other persons who are involved in the process. Hence if we take in terms of sufficiency of baby bonus we don’t think that it is that much sufficient but the main important thing is that what is government’sreactionandthinking on the same. For the poor this kind of baby bonus is not at all adequate. The government is spending like anything for the infrastructure but when it come asto the general public, they are not doing anything. That is the main drawback that we can sense from the above. The government hasto come to grassroots level and feel the pinch of the common poor man. Then only would they be any sort of position to take  aview and stance on the same.

With the current economic turmoil and recession that has happened it was very tough to cope up with the change. A lot of jobs were being reduced also a lot of things have happened in the economy. Due to less jobs there are less work and people are thinking hard to start their family. Married people are also upset with the same and they feel whether they should have their child or not. Thus the government has to take a note of the situation and do something for the common man so that they are able to live their lives peacefully and happily. We have to give good support and confidence to the government for the same andthen only would there be some sort of changes and improvements on it. We feel that baby bonus is not a main necessity for the people of Australia in some sense. The statistics show that more than 60 percent of the populations are above middle class people and thus they would not have any sort of problem in paying their bills for the young ones. It is only the lower class people who would be having some pinch and thus it would be better if we give these kinds of bonuses to them instead of all. This would make sure that there is a considerably amount of money that is being saved and people are happy with it

Arguments against Baby Bonus

We all know how important is baby bonus for the lower income strata but we also have to take a look over what is happening at the other side of the coin. As every coin has two side so is the story with this as well. It is being said that this kind of approach of giving baby bonus to people would create more laziness in the minds of people. They would feel that government should take care of their children but instead it is they themselves who should be taking care of their children. We all know that children planning is being done by the parents and  they feel that they are economical strong to support another child in their family. They can feed them and take control of them. It is only then that they plan for the children. Then why should government support them for this cause. What is the practical reason behind this is what the government would like to ask the people. What is the basicneed for helping the poor people in giving them compensation. When they are in any good financial condition they should not go in for their child andshould only plan their children when they thoroughly satisfied with their family position and condition.

These all arguments are against the government decision of giving tax benefits and compensation for the child bonus. Another major argument that is being said is the need of giving bonus to children. This would mainly be a lot burden on the government. They should only give the parents good maternity wards and good vaccination after a child is being born. They should not go in for giving them family bonus. This would make the families not plan their children and this can lead to adopt of financial complication for them. Hence it is strongly recommend that there should be good planning for the same andthefamilies should sit and discuss if they can have child now instead of waiting for the government to give them compensation for the same. Hence it is typically recommend that baby bonus be not given to families. Instead there should be more efforts that should be made on the education system so that when these children grow up they can get good educations and thus they can work for the country in the later days. What government can do is that they can give these children free education when they grow up andthis would mainly make them more string and more competitive in the coming days. We should not be demotivating them but we should ensure that the families also understand thecomplexities and they should not look for the government to give them the compensation part. They should think from their own minds and then only should they be any sort of position to plan for the children.

Recommendations

I have gone through the positivity’s and negativities of the case. After going through it, I find that baby bonus is not a great necessity. It is only we who have made it as necessary part for all the children and families who are living in Australia. In general it is not that much required. Families should be in a position to have their child andif they are not in such position they should drop theidea of it. Base on the above mentioned points, I would like to give few recommendations to the Government of Australia regarding it.

1. Baby Bonus only for weaker sections of society: I would prefer that baby bonus be only given to the weaker sections of the society. It should not be given to all the people and its service should be discontinued for people who have their family’smonthly income above the range of 10000 AUD per month. Instead it should only be given to weaker sections so that they are able to up bring their family andit only serves as amotivational factor for them for short span. They are the ones who are requiring it andthus we should support them in this cause. We should give them some amount of bonus every month for their monthly expenditure and this would be true fromall aspects of the society.
2. Free Maternity Wards and Hospital: The government should set up free maternity wards  and hospitals for the families.Their should be good support in this area so that families do not have to pay more during the pregnancy andthey are able to have  agood time in terms of correct treatment and correct diagnosis during these nine months. Thus, I would propose the government to set up these kinds of hospitals or in the existing hospitals they should be planning for them so that there are less expenditures that are involved in it.
3. Free Education: After a child is born, government should ensure that there is free education that is being given to these children at least for a span of 10 years. This would oral boost the families of the children of the economically weaker sections andthey would be happy with it. After achild is being born or before that the families haveto think  a lot about what is going to happen in the future with the child. Hence education tops the priority list. It is thus very important for the government to provide free education for the children till the age of class 10 and this would mainly mean good formal educations background support for the children.

Conclusion

Baby bonus is a kind of gift that is being given by the Australian government to the general people. Offlate there has been a lot of criticism on it as to whether it is good for the people andthe amount is good for the people who are below the low income group strata. We have tried our level best to kind out the true picture as to where it stands and what all are the repercussions of it in the current economic turmoil. As per Brent (1996), we feel that baby bonus is not a main necessity for the people of Australia in some sense. The statistics show that more than 60 percent of the population are above middle class people andthus they would not have any sort of problem in paying their bills for the young ones. It is only the lower class people who would be having some pinch andthus it would be better if we give these kinds of bonuses to them instead of all. This would make sure that there is aconsiderably amount of money that is being saved and people are happy with it.

We would like to propose good hospitals and good education for the children who are in thereyoung age instead of giving them some bonus. Bonus would not make a good child andit would only  be a part of expenses. On the other hand if we give good name andincome to the children that would be the topmost priority. We have to give them good educationsasit would be one of the topmost needs of the children and only this part would incur more expenditures for the parents. Hence, we would like the government to take anote of it and take necessary steps so that Australia sees a good growing population in the coming days.

References.

Treder, Steve. “Cash in the Cradle: The Bonus Babies”. hardballtimes.com. Retrieved 2006-11-15.

Kelley, Brent (1996), Baseball’s Biggest Blunder.

Day, D. (2008). Andrew Fisher: prime minister of Australia. HarperCollinsPublishers.

Child Development Co-Savings (Baby Bonus) Scheme”. Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

Baby Bonus’ unveiled – CBC Archives”. CBC News.

http://www.familyassist.gov.au/payments/family-assistance-payments/baby-bonus/

http://www.familyassist.gov.au

http://www.babybonus.com.au/

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/baby_bonus_iat.htm

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