I think that the dropping rate is because most couples are waiting until later in life to have children so they are limited as to how many children they can have at an older age. Hence we have so many smaller families then in the past. Also most woman work now.

It’s so sad that people are only hoping for free money…how they are going to rise kids later?

I think it’s a great idea for growing families with their hearts in the right place. Terrible idea for those who are having babies just for the bonus….

Terrible idea, the baby bonus. Our government recently said they could not afford, in the budget, to allow the fuel excise to be cut in half anymore., so no, if the government couldn’t afford to help all Australians, why target just a set group. Never agreed with the baby bonus in the first instance, and still don’t.

If people are having a baby just for the bonus then they are doing it for the wrong reasons so I hope they don’t bring it back in. With the cost of living the way it is at the moment people just can’t afford to have more kids and a “baby bonus’ isn’t going to change that.

I hope it doesn’t come back. People don’t need an incentive to have a child. The population us already too much for the earth to handle.

It’s such a small sum compared to the costs to raise kids. They need to offer better services overall like childcare at lower costs and provide more for mat leave.

I’ve never been a fan of this. The cost of everything is going up at the moment, if people want to have kids, they’ll have them. They shouldn’t need money from the government to help encourage it.

I don’t think this is a good idea at all. The reason people probably aren’t having babies is because they know they can’t afford to. A bonus is just for the birth, how are they going to manage after that? Having a child isn’t cheap and there are already a lot of children in Australia who are living in poverty and their parents can’t afford to send them to school.

I really hope not. Our country is in enough debt as it is. As someone who has missed out on nearly every Government bonus available, I’m always surprised to understand why the Government needs to give us money to have a baby. If you can’t afford it, don’t have a baby until you can. It should not be the reason to have a baby either. Parenting is the hardest and greatest challenge of your life and it should never be about money.

I’m surprised to hear this is a thing but of course it’s all about the economy and not the fact there billions of people struggling worldwide

The world does NOT need a bigger population. Besides, in Australia our health and education systems are struggling as it is. Not to mention the housing crisis.

I’d rather our national parental leave scheme be revamped than a baby bonus. Extending the leave and allowing partners more than 2 weeks leave is a much better step forward than a baby bonus. I hate how Australia is rated one of the worst countries for parental leave and maternity leave in the modern world! Let’s address that.

I think this would encourage people to have a baby for all the wrong reasons. You need to make sure you can still afford the baby once the $5k has run out.

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  • • Ellen replied
    • 12 Oct 2022 , 8:48 am

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  Yes I agree, never a good motivation to get a baby for the country or the money

I do not believe this is the ideal solution. You need to consider why families aren’t having big families anymore.

Birthing babies for the country or for a bonus is never the right motivation

A cash bonus is not the right was to help I believe. Raising kids is very expensive. There is other ways to help but this is not it.

Better idea, make IVF more affordable!! Then maybe those of us who are desperate for babies will have more

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  • • mom103778 replied
    • 11 Oct 2022 , 9:11 am

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  I agree IVF should be made more affordable then a baby bonus

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    • • Mum2022 replied
      • 11 Oct 2022 , 1:59 pm

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    100% agree it should be more affordable and so should genetic testing for people who have illness that they don’t want to pass down to their future children!

A better idea would be to address why families aren’t expanding anymore – affordability for everything from housing to groceries is ridiculously high and a bonus would only provide temporary relief before plunging families back into struggle street. While there may be some that have a baby to “cash in” the vast majority of pregnancies won’t be due to that reason so I think the judgemental attitudes (especially towards young mothers) should be set aside – those young mums need support and education not a pile on. Publicising childcare, boosting family tax benefits and study programs to reintegrate parents back into the work force when they’re ready would far more helpful than a one off payment and have better long term impact on the economy and families alike.

I think it’s wrong as it encourages young ones to have babies just for the money. Thta looks a lot to some people who have no fore thought.