11 December 2007: Taxing Children

As if raising children wasn't taxing enough, an Australian professor has suggested taxing people who have more than two.

He argues that the tax is needed because of the extra greenhouse gas emissions caused by the growing world population.

"Every family choosing to have more than a defined number of children should be charged a carbon tax that would fund the planting of enough trees to offset the carbon cost generated by a new human being," he said.

Under his proposals, parents with more than two children should pay about 2,000 pounds a head for each extra child and up to 350 pounds every year thereafter.