Child Benefits

two babies and woman sitting on sofa while holding baby and watching on tablet
Type: Vocabulary
Originally published on September 22, 2020 and last updated on May 8, 2023

In today’s modern world bringing up children can not only be challenging but also very expensive. Countries such as England have recognised this difficulty and offer a monthly benefit to people with children known as “child support”. This benefit is extremely important for many poor families, but its availability to those without any financial problems has caused debate amongst the population with some arguing that benefits such as child support should be means tested and not given to everyone who has a child.

Instructions:
Go through the vocabulary below with your students and ask them to try and use this vocabaulry where possible when discussing the different conversation questions.

Useful Vocabulary

Try and use the following vocabulary when answering the question. Click to look up the definition in the dictionary

  • financial (adjective)
  • benefit (noun)
  • benefit (verb)
  • assistance (noun)
  • means -tested (idiom)
  • bring up (phrasal verb)
  • raise (verb)
  • restriction (noun)

Conversation Questions

My Image
  • Should people with children get financial support from the government?
  • Do people with children get financial support from the government in your country?
  • Do you think any financial help for those with children should be means tested so it goes to people who really need it?
  • What do you think is a suitable amount people should receive?
  • Do you think this benefit should be per child?
  • Should there be any restrictions on who can receive this financial help?
  • Why do you think some people say there should be no financial help from the government for those who decide to have children?
Gregory
This conversation topic was prepared by Gregory

Gregory is a qualified TEFL teacher who has been teaching English as a Foreign Language (ESL) for over a decade. He has taught in-person classes in Spain and to English learners around the world online.