# More kids=more tax breaks. WHY? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 3, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999 "2011-04-03T02:03:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![dougiequick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@dougiequick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougiequick)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/101 "2016-11-19T19:12:08Z")
China I guess, has an oposite scenerio of discouraging procreation. I heard that is potentially backfiring on them ? It seems it is not just the raw numbers of people but their AGE and ability to contribute LABOR that begins to get all out of whack when controls are over zealous …that combined with advances in health care which might dramatically increase the proportion of unproductive (labor wise) portion of population…maybe in some countries the elderly will have money , but also huge voice able to KEEP their money? Equating to a huge segment that will contribute much less to society than the diminishing (percentage wise) more youthful segment? Not that I understand the dynamics so much, as it seems to me the elderly STILL DIE eventually and that money to some degree gets reabsorbed by society through inheritance, taxes, or having being willed to charities etc. God only knows how this all might eventually pan out!! Looks a bit dismal to me however…btw I AM elderly myself so I have no axe to grind save to TRY to be honest, to try to WANT to do the right thing for children in general (not just my own) …but what IS “right”??? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@Troy\_McClure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/102 "2016-11-19T22:16:12Z")
How come the zombies don’t get tax breaks? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/103 "2016-11-20T01:40:11Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > So that we do not face a demographic dearth like in Europe and have to import labour from other parts of the world. This. It makes 0 sense to have a group of people build a society and then enact tax and immigration policy in such a way that everything built goes to rival nations’ citizens and their children instead of their own. ---
**Author:** ![Ylime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Ylime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ylime)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/104 "2017-03-01T19:50:46Z")
I have often asked this question and can never get an actual “real” answer. When I bring up the issue with people who have kids, they seem offended. But I do not understand why, at the end of the year, I get a big fat bill from the government and my co-workers with children get a big fat refund check. I have to pay $4000 and they get $4000 back. Why? I don’t directly use schools. Of course I understand the trickle down effects. Educating and raising healthy children benefits the entire community. But I don’t understand why none of the life choices I’ve made are deemed important enough for tax breaks. I’ve rescued many animals from county animal shelters and feed and care for them but I don’t get any tax breaks. Our taxes already pay for schools and services to invest in the next generation. So why don’t the people who benefit the most directly from those services have to pay as much for them? It’s as if the people who drive on the roads the most didn’t have to pay their car registration. It just doesn’t make sense and it doesn’t seem fair. I can barely make ends meet and I live very simply. I’m not saying it’s easy or cheap having kids. But it is a choice. Why am I supposed to bear most of the burden where taxes are concerned when I made a responsible choice by not having children I can’t afford? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/105 "2017-03-01T19:55:36Z")
> [@Ylime](#): > > I’m not saying it’s easy or cheap having kids. But it is a choice. Why am I supposed to bear most of the burden where taxes are concerned when I made a responsible choice by not having children I can’t afford? The simple answer is because you were outvoted. By zombies. Welcome to the Straight Dope! ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/106 "2017-03-01T20:12:23Z")
> [@Ylime](#): > > But I do not understand why, at the end of the year, I get a big fat bill from the government and my co-workers with children get a big fat refund check. I have to pay $4000 and they get $4000 back. Why? ? The real answer to this is that the withholding for both you and your coworkers is messed up. You can adjust your W-4 so that your refund/amount due is under $100 either way. Unless something really changed in your financial situation this is a problem that has nothing to do with tax credits and everything to do with you needing to sit down with HR for 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/107 "2017-03-01T21:28:00Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Yes really ! > Want to carry this on ? > > Cos if you’tre bluff calling I’m up for it. Huh. I had forgotten what a tw… _checks forum_ … never mind. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/108 "2017-03-02T23:24:15Z")
It’s always entertaining to read a thread, starting thinking about my response, then see a post from zombie-me making it. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/109 "2017-03-03T14:03:07Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > My wife and I had 3 children (2 boys and a girl) all adults now. I think I have some credibility when I say the tax credits we got were unfair to the rest of you. You have NO additional credibility because you USED to get tax breaks. The additional credibility you are trying to claim is what lawyers call a “statement against interest” Once your kids left your home, you are no longer making a statement against interest. Make an argument against your mortgage interest deduction and you might have some additional credibility > [@](#): > > Well? They were! > > Until high school they all attended public schools. Which means we paid the same towards school tax (property tax) as someone who had 2, 1, or no children. Our kids used the parks system 3 times more than childless home owners. There was a 3X greater chance that we used emergency services (police, fire, rescue) than childless people. > > If anything, my wife and I should have been taxed more. Yet our taxes didn’t go up until our kids grew up and moved away from home. School are generally paid for with local real estate taxes that are not affected by the number of kids you have. So the taxes for schools didn’t really go up when your kids moved out. To the extent that income taxes pay for schools, they tend to subsidize schools in really crappy neighborhoods where home values are much lower. Parks (like schools) are not public goods, but they are what we call common goods. A good or service that we do not allocate based on ability to pay. > [@](#): > > Folks with even more kids pay even less taxes, while they suckle even more (or at least there is a greater chance the suckle even more) off the system. > > Show me how giving tax breaks to breeders helps our overall society/community/neighborhood. Why give people a tax break for having a stay at home spouse? Noone thinks that tax breaks come close to the additional cost of raising a child. And if the family is on the dole they aren’t paying taxes to begin with. One of the most important elements of forecasting economic growth is estimating population growth. As your working age population increases, so does your economy. The healthier and better educated your working age population, the better the economic growth (generally speaking). ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/110 "2017-03-03T14:04:44Z")
NVM. Zombie. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/111 "2017-03-06T15:15:31Z")
Have you guys looked up how much it costs to raise a child in this country? This is a drop in the bucket. Oops, zombie. Zombie Children! Run away! ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999/112 "2017-03-06T15:48:55Z")
Maybe y’all are filling out the wrong tax forms … I use the 1040 Long and I’ve always been able to claim myself as an exemption … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-kids-more-tax-breaks-why/576999.md?page=5)