NOTES AND COMMENTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 16, 29 October 1938, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS

FAMIL'r ALLOWANCES. “Is the British race doomed to exa tinction ?” was tho question posed by .Mr R. F. Harrod, lionoraT’y secretary of the Royal Economic Society, in a recent address. Unless remedial measures were taken, Mr Harrod said, fairly soon they might expect a rapid decline in the population, reducing Britain to the position of a second-rate Power. “The tendency of .a declining birth-rate is manifesting itself in varying degrees in most parts of the world,” he continued, “but we British and a few other countries have a, long lead, and unless there is a change of tendency we shall have diminished to small numbers while some nations are still greatly in excess of their present numbers. A still larger view suggests that the permanence of the human race itself is in danger. Remedies must lie partly in a change of outlook and partly in the provision of material assistance. The change of outlook must take the form of a greater interest in human progress and regard for posterity. Also from a psychological point of view there is much to bo said against the small family as likely to engender neurosis owing to the over-concentrated parental affection. On the material side I propose family endowments on a generous scale. If every child had to be endowed the burden would be great, but there is much to be said for concentrating the endowment on the third, fourth and other children. Bv this plan n moderate insurance levy on all adults would secure generous benefits during the period of child dependence. 1 am in favour of insurance rather than outright endowment schemes, first, because an endowment scheme, if generous enough to be effective, would be an expensive burden on national finance; second Iv, because it is important that the scheme should be graded according to the income groups to be effective.”