Cut pensions for the childless

Whoa! I don't think I'd make that argument, but there are some people in Germany advocating just such a policy in response to Germany's low birth rate (found through NRO).

New statistics confirming the declining birth rate have sent Germany in to a state of panic, amid a growing consensus that pensions should be increased for people with children and reduced for those without.

"People without children should either receive a reduced pension or pay more into pension schemes," said Norbert Geis from the CSU.

Johann Eekhoff, director of the Cologne institute for Economic Policy said a reform of the pension system was long overdue.

"People without children should never have been admitted into pension schemes because these only work when they are financed by subsequent generations," he said in an interview with mass-circulation Bild newspaper. "Their pensions should be cut by 50 percent."

CDU politician Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker agreed, pointing out that working parents are financially disadvantaged compared to their childless peers. "In the long-term, we need to consider awarding people without children lower pensions," she said.

This is the problem throughout much of Europe. Unfunded, state-run pensions and a shrinking future workforce. Still, this does sound like a pretty extreme measure.