The Population Problem

Abstract

1. The proposal which I have the honour to submit herewith presupposes that the present situation is critical and gives ground for alarm. With this basic assumption it would be wanting in sense of proportion to recommend an antidote that would strike an ordinary man as of trivial importance. The decision to have or not to have more children is governed by strong emotional forces; it is not taken without heart searching; we cannot hope to influence that decision in a great number of cases without making an adjustment in the prospects of parents which they will readily judge to be of appreciable significance. I am accordingly making a proposal which is more far-reaching than the measures recently adopted on the continent of Europe or than the flat rate of allowance of 8s. per week for each child after the first proposed by Sir William Beveridge. But it is not so farreaching as to be inconsistent with the main features of our economic structure.

Memorandum submitted in 1944 to the Royal Commission on Population.