The Bag of Plenty Beacon. Published Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JULY 19th, 1939 BABIES AND ECONOMICS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 38, 19 July 1939, Page 4

The Bag of Plenty Beacon. Published Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JULY 19th, 1939 BABIES AND ECONOMICS

''ONE writer List century, John Stuart Mill, declared that if we cculd give the poor a good standard of living for a whole generation, they would get such a t?„ste for the comforts and conveniences of life, that they would not increase their families in a way which would endanger ,nem. This forecast, made in 1848. was very shrewd, wasn't it?" said Professor Percy Ford in a recent broadcast. "That's, just what has happened. Advertisements in bus, newspaper and poster plays on our minds perpetually, creating wants and desires with great rapidity. Look at all the things we are asked to buy and to do! Pushing up the standard of wants at this pace is bound to affect population adversely. It leads to the kind of problem expressed in the phrase "car or baby?" Children themselves become more costly Even the State urges that they should be given more milk, that we should look to their teeth, their eyes, their general health, and give them holidays. Wages may have risen, but the fact is that- the cost of rearing and maintaining children on our current standards has gone up faster. If you want to alter this you have got to replace the motives making for larger ones, and that is" not easy. Germany seems to have succeeded, though it's not clear how far the financials inducements have been the cause. It seems that the rise of the birth-rate began before these, inducements were really effective. In our case, it means breaking down everywhere the discouragements which make rearing a family a greater burden than before. It may mean revising our views about housing policy,, early motherhood, enabling married woman to earn by providing nursery services, as in Russia, and a whole number of other things. In fact, you must plan society right through for the children.