https://www.reddit.com/r/SeriousConversation/comments/1iap1az/good_parenting_can_it_be_incentivized/
created by RewRose on 26/01/2025 at 20:16 UTC
1 upvotes, 8 top-level comments (showing 8)
I have been mulling over this idea for a while now - would it be possible to incentivize good parenting ?
Like, some kind of standard for parenting, with an associated certification that brings with it monetary benefits like reduced taxes or even a subsidy
- ***Anyone can be a parent***, but now people would have a rough *guide* for becoming better prepared as parents, and *something to show* for it
- it could require a combination of experience handling kids (volunteering at a nursery/babysitting or something), testing on theory & general parenting skills, evaluation of financial stability and general fitness (mental & physical)
- Perhaps it could be something that needs to get renewed once every 5 years.
Having celebrities endorse it as a status thing would probably result in more people seeking it in potential mates, and possibly happier families
Would this kind of thing work for incentivizing parents to at least try to build parenting skills & get on top of general childcare info, or would it not even be worth considering ?
Comment by Electric_Memes at 26/01/2025 at 20:39 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Just so you know there's tons of debate about good parenting... Who's standards are you going to choose?
Also are you going to incentivize parents to take the class? Like with money? Guaranteed time off work? Free babysitting during the class?
Comment by RentDueFixDoor at 26/01/2025 at 21:09 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Improve education, arts, and most important of all, social security. Bad parents are most likely dumb and broke. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying if you are lower-middle class that makes you automatically a bad parent. But at the end of the day, money helps. If you can’t afford the necessary expenses for your child, it will make it much, much harder to be a good parent.
As long as powerful groups have a chokehold on the public, reinforcing harmful and idiotic ways to raise our children, we will see bad parents, and bad kids who grow up to be bad parents.
Comment by ZenToan at 26/01/2025 at 22:36 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You have to learn how to drive a car, and in a car you can at the most kill the people in your car and a few other cars.
How many people's lives are Hitler's parents' responsible for?
So yes, of course we should teach people courses in parenting. Anything else is irresponsible.
Comment by Fanky_Spamble at 26/01/2025 at 21:22 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I've heard that government assistance in some countries is based on performance in school before college.
Maternal and paternal leave would need to be extended and fully paid and childcare would need to be government regulated.
Universal healthcare would also be a must to ensure a parent had nothing to worry about as far as being able to afford medical bills.
Minimum wage and liveable wage would have to be one and the same from area to area.
Parental education classes would need to be mandatory and free as well as passing a financial and mental stability test.
Unfortunately a lot of the things that would be needed to incentivise "good parenting" could also be seen of eugenics of minorities.
I don't think anyone wants to be anything less than a good parent but there's only so much a human can take. Of course once you have a child, your life belongs to them but with the pressure of that and needing to constantly work, I don't see how anyone is up to the task of child-rearing.
Comment by Basic_Flight_1786 at 27/01/2025 at 09:06 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
We have an incentive in the US, it’s called a tax deduction. Problem is, shitty parents are offered the same incentive.
Comment by Grand-wazoo at 26/01/2025 at 20:40 UTC*
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Would never work for about a thousand reasons.
First of all, parenting style is determined by one's own upbringing, their parents (for better or worse), religious views, level of education, and moral beliefs.
Thus, it is impossible to even define what makes good parenting because it's entirely individualized and subjective, aside from not letting the kid die and not beating/abusing them (even physical harm is considered acceptable in some cultures).
Next, there are a whole host of issues relating to childcare that have yet to be addressed before tackling something like this (speaking for the US here). We still don't even have paid paternal leave for new fathers and for many lower income working mothers, public school is their childcare. And public education is currently in a state of decay, not to mention the already woeful lack of social safety nets in general. So I'd say those issues need priority before adding a financial incentive for existing parents.
Plus, when you consider that any social service always requires either additional tax or cutting other social programs to fund it, you have a nonstarter of an idea.
Comment by wild_crazy_ideas at 26/01/2025 at 21:36 UTC
0 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Are you suggesting that scientists and the government have absolute knowledge of child raising that is suitable to roll out?
Comment by Throwaway_Lilacs at 26/01/2025 at 21:22 UTC*
-1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The stick is more effective than the carrot.
Allowing your child to become obese, screen addicted, abusive toward classmates, among other forms of emotional neglect should also be considered as child abuse and prosecuted accordingly.