Opinion: This Might Be The PN’s Most Interesting Proposal In Years
I’m struggling to remember a more interesting policy proposal issued by the PN in recent years than its call for a national child trust fund.
To a large extent, it goes against the grain of what we’ve come to expect from local politics.
It’s a long-term project, which means people won’t be able to feel its effects until at least 20 years from its implementation.
No one currently alive would be able to personally benefit from it, although their future children could.
If it’s true that people mainly vote on the basis of which political party will best improve their financial situation, this proposal is unlikely to score the PN many points. From a political point of view, it shouldn’t be the PN’s main policy battlecry heading into the next election.
And yet it gives the impression of a party that can produce innovative, well-researched proposals and one that has rediscovered its energy under Alex Borg’s leadership.
This proposal is certainly feasible. With an estimated 4,000 – 4,500 births a year, a national child trust fund should cost the government a maximum of €22 million a year.
Since roughly a third of those births are to foreign mothers – and given that the PN is proposing residence-based restrictions on eligibility for foreign nationals – the final figure would likely be even lower.
But even €22 million a year is less than the government currently forks out on subsidies for free public transport (an estimated €24 million). And this isn’t money that will depreciate in value as it sits in the bank over the years but money that will grow over time.
If the government can find enough money to allow people to ride the bus for free, it can surely find some money to give its future citizens a head start in life.
There are certain issues that need to be ironed out though.
As it stands, the proposal would essentially tie the level of money given to citizens to the performance of global markets during their childhood and teenage years.
For example, somebody born right before a crash could stand to earn a lot less than someone born right after one, through no fault of their own.
Market dynamics are what they are, but the government should also treat its citizens fairly and minimise the impact of shocks.
Perhaps the money should be invested into a sovereign wealth fund instead, to be distributed more equally among citizens once they turn 20.
Meanwhile, parents who want to top up their children’s bonuses could be encouraged to set up private trust funds themselves.
Yet this remains an interesting proposal in terms of a party thinking outside the box beyond the limits of a five-year legislature.
Whether or not the PN ever gets to implement it, it is a reminder that politics can, and should, be about planning what sort of country we want to live in and building a fairer future.
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