Holy shit... Ann Coulter is one bitter, old spinster...

[jberryhill]

56. -single folks don't get breaks on anything-

From a tax perspective, sure. But from a purely economic standpoint, if you want to trade my kids' tuition for a $1200 tax deduction, PM me your details, and I'd be happy to make that trade.

As pointed out above, raising kids - while voluntary like all other employment - is an unpaid job which, presumably, ultimately pays out benefits to society at large. That's the theory anyway, and I usually use the Social Security example, since it is the one I think about when the elementary school across the street is having a noisy activity or whatever.

As an economic proposition, the cost of children doesn't come anywhere near the tax benefit. You could take what other people spend on children, donate it to charity, and deduct the entire amount, if you are looking for a tax deduction of some kind.

Marry a 65 year old blind person, and you get two right at the top of the form!

Why does anyone get a tax break for being blind? I don't know, but I'm not sticking a pair of knitting needles in my eyes to find out.

As was also pointed out, there's a whole raft of laws that apply ONLY to parents. It's not simply out of kindness that parents feed, clothe, shelter, school, get medical care, etc., for children. They'll go to jail if they don't do those things, and then you, and everyone else, pays full boat for the care of those other people - who are also members of this society.

One workable alternative, I guess, is to get rid of parenting, and have everyone pay the full cost of raising the next generation of members of society.

There's also a benefit at the back-end, since a lot of children end up taking care of their elderly parents, which, again, would otherwise be a collective cost.