"Their study was based on a population of children aged 0-14 years 'informed by a cohort analysis of individuals ... who can be observed through to age 21 .'... One of four risk factors for poor outcomes later in life [is b]eing 'mostly supported by welfare benefits since birth'...
"[In other words,] children raised on welfare [tend to] become adults who are less educated, have poorer mental health, are more likely to become single parents, to rely on welfare and fall foul of the law.
"If being born onto welfare and staying there long-term is a risky business for children, why would any government want to encourage this? In other walks of life we are bombarded with health and safety regulation. And in an environment where 'sustainability' is a constant clamour, how does growing costly dependency stack up?
"Those who advocate limitless number and duration of child benefit payments — the situation that currently exists in New Zealand and the UK is returning to — are ignoring the evidence.
"Those saying we need more welfare in order to produce more children are pushing a remedy fraught with risk, cost and irresponsibility."
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