Can We Please Have a Cat and Dog Bonus?
December 14th 2008 21:00
Photo by Ohnoitsjamie. Used in accordance with the terms of Wikimedia Commons’ GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
Cynics please gather here. One of my workmates hates kids. The idea of motherhood absolutely makes her shudder. My sister and I are the same.
So it was no surprise that one morning last week, my workmate started complaining about Rudd’s $1,000 family bonus payment. While she agreed it would be good for the economy as it would encourage people to start spending again, she saw having kids as a lifestyle choice and couldn’t see why taxpayers should be foot the bill. Hmmm. She has a point here. After all, I joked, childless me doesn’t get a bonus for buying luxury goods nor does she get a bonus for travelling overseas so why should it be any different for those who have children?
This led to her posing a hypothetical question: what about those people who don’t have kids and who see their cats and dogs as their children? Shouldn’t they also get a family bonus payment? Having companion animals isn’t cheap, said my workmate. She pointed out if you take into account how much it would cost to feed them and take them to the vet, especially if they got sick or needed an operation…they could be as expensive as human children.
Another colleague overheard our discussion. He was an older man and I suspected he might have children. I wondered if he was offended by our comments, even though we were being tongue-in-cheek. Instead, much to my relief, he was amused and started cracking jokes as well.
What’s your take on the situation?
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