Families and Children

"Perhaps the greatest social service that can be rendered by anybody to this country and to mankind is to bring up a family"

George Bernard Shaw

• We shall say a big thank you to all our caring mothers by introducing 1 full year government paid parental leave and help them preserve their jobs and payments while caring for their children. If the mother feels like continuing her career soon after birth then her husband shall be entitled to take full time care of the baby and take the parental leave instead.

• We believe the family is the only social structure capable of providing the best care for our children. No other alternatives can compare or compete in our paramount duty of care for the future generation. We shall encourage and protect families with children by providing much better welfare payments and tax benefits (compared with single parents). Such measures would discourage divorce and help many families in need.

• Our new family benefits scheme is not aimed at creating another baby boom (our planet is already overpopulated) but at preserving our current population level and improving quality of life. The new family assistance measures will only benefit families with up to 3 children, enabling them to provide high standards of health care and education. Families intending to have more than 3 children have to provide full care for their fourth and subsequent siblings. These measures will only be effective for children born after the introduction of the new laws, so existing large families will not be affected.

• We can never create a peaceful society if we are surrounded by violence in every aspect of our daily life. Many of our films, games, books, even songs are nothing less than “artistic” massacre. We teach our children how to fight and kill at the earliest possible age. Indeed, some of them show remarkable progress – we already have juvenile killers and even more accomplished mature ones. It looks like many film studios have an unofficial quest to create the most sadistic, destructive and murderous movies one can ever imagine. Such evil “entertainment” creates the wrong role models for our children and us as well. To counter this negative trend we shall ban the production, distribution and import of “war toys” as well as violent films, games, and other media. Such “amusement” is directly responsible for the alarming levels of violence and aggression in the community and abroad. Just like many other goods, any locally manufactured or imported children goods like toys, games, films, etc, will need approval. Similar measures will also cover adult entertainment – violent films and similar media will be subject to strict censorship, bans, higher taxes, ratings, compulsory warnings, age restrictions, late session times, etc. 

• Recent “liberal” changes to the family law proved devastating for many children and resulted in astronomical divorce rates. While such “liberation” may be financially beneficial for some professions, it is the ex-partners and their children who have to carry the burden of their ruined relationship. The “no fault” divorce principle made many people think that any kind of irresponsible behaviour is legal and acceptable. The court does not care any more who is at fault – it is often the problem partner who files the divorce and takes the bigger share of property. This system creates many opportunities for one partner to exploit the other and impose a divorce at their own will. It promotes irresponsible partnership and parenthood, denigrating age-old family values such as faith and devotion. Worst of all it creates thousands of lonely children, missing one or both of their beloved parents and struggling with life. They face much higher risks than other kids – a glimpse of the statistics will tell that their suicide, drugs abuse, AIDS, crime and many other shameful rates are vastly increased. While flawed family law may not be the only factor for our current family crisis it is by no means the least. We shall undertake urgent action in order to review certain aspects of the family law and affirm the equality and responsibilities of both partners. We support post-marriage shared parenting (joint custody & care for the children) and believe that every child needs both parents disregarding their current marital status. In absence of serious problems which may negatively impact on a child’s development (e.g. – criminal behaviour, mental illness, substance abuse, violence, etc.) both ex-partners and parents shall still share (50/50) their parenting duties until their sibling/s turn/s 18 y.o. When a marriage comes to an end a simple prenuptial agreement (which shall have all the powers of a legal contract) may prove very beneficial for many partners and save them a huge amount of grief and legal fees. When there is no such previous agreement all property acquired after marriage shall be divided according to each partner’s share of contributions and/or guilt. This approach shall reduce the chances of any side unfairly benefiting from divorce, and hopefully lessen divorce rate and demand for Child Support Agency services.

• Premature parenting is often “accidental” and seldom successful. Teenage parents have greatly diminished chances of providing proper care for their children and still lack many of the essential skills, knowledge, responsibility and financial means required for such an important undertaking. We shall discourage early parenthood by removing any government assistance for underage (under 18 y.o.) parents.

Also see: Education