Control over the number and spacing of women was central to women’s liberation. Young Labour and the Wild Greens forgot that last night on the BackbencherTV show. Neither could handle the notion that people should wait until they can afford to have children before having them. This is an old working class value with which the Young Labour panel member completely disagreed.
The number of children and the spacing between their births has been a major driver of the gender wage gap for decades. Central to greater female participation in the workforce and society outside the home is smaller families.
Many woman put-off having children to their late 20s and early 30s so they could first consolidate their education and career.
Bryan Caplan argues that there is an undeserving poor if they fail to follow the following reasonable steps to avoid poverty and hardship:
- Work full-time, even if the best job you can get isn’t fun.
- Spend your money on food and shelter before getting cigarettes and cable TV.
- Use contraception if you can’t afford a child
Raising a child takes a lot of effort and a lot of money. One poor person rarely has enough resources to comfortably provide this combination of effort and money.
Young Labour in particular has forgotten the old working class value of being a responsible parent able to afford to raise your children and give them the best things in life.
Being a parent is hard work that requires a bit of discipline if child poverty is to be avoided through ill-considered choices and a lack of family planning.
Young Labour has forgotten the policy of the Labour Party on family planning
Labour believes that all individuals should have control over their own sexual and reproductive lives. An individual’s choice to determine the number and timing of one’s children cannot be compromised.
To ensure that all people can make free and informed choices about their future, Labour supports safe, affordable and universal access to contraception, sexual and reproductive services and information. Labour recognises all women have the right to make their own choices about their own bodies, and should have access to abortion services
New Zealand has a high rate of unplanned pregnancies, estimated at between 40% and 60% of all pregnancies. Labour’s health spokesperson, Annette King agrees that it is a problem and for too long people have avoided dealing with it.
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments