Birth rate

Proposal:

Provide incentives for child birth and raising children up to the average amount that is needed, and penalties for additional kids.

Intent:

To promote growth when needed and restraint when needed.

Discussion:

The government should not force women to give birth, nor punish women for giving birth. However, the government does have an interest in steering the population towards stability, increase, or decrease when needed. The way to do this while protecting individual liberty is with incentives and penalties.

The thresholds for “not enough” and “too many” children vary depending on the population goal (stability, increase, or decrease). For example, to maintain a stable population size the government may provide incentives for women to give birth to one or two children, a smaller incentive or no incentive for a third child, and penalties for any children beyond three. For example, to promote an increase in population size, the government may provide incentives for up to four or five children. For example, to promote a decrease in population size, the government may provide penalties for two or more children.