Seriously.

[The Grand Nudger]

I could give you all sorts of lovey dovey explanations as to why those with children receive tax breaks (the same sorts of lovey dovey shit the govt peddles when explaining them), however, it boils down to one thing. The government is investing in a potential for profit. Those children will grow up and pay taxes. They have the potential to increase the overall wealth of the country (specifically the government, through taxes). The better a situation those children find themselves in the more likely they are to be successful and ergo the more likely the investment the govt has made will return a larger profit (or any profit). That's the practical explanation. Of course we do like to help each other, and the measure of a society has been said to be in it's least fortunate, so there's always that. I have plenty of kids, I get the income credits, still doesn't cover the cost of raising a kid. Not even close. The taxes I paid before credits and when my children are gone and paying taxes themselves will cover the amount I'm "given" more than ten times over (if it hasn't already). Never ever imagine that the government is handing anything out for free. That's giving them far too much credit. If you don't wish to be a part of this system, that "gives" a helping hand to the less fortunate, you're free to move somewhere else. Somewhere this doesn't occur and the situation is better for you economically? Call it the cost of doing business, I suppose.

The people for whom these credits are designed will one day be your prison guards, your cops. The guys who fix your leaking sewers and downed power lines. They'll take out your garbage. Hell, they might invent the pacemaker you have installed All of this assumes they avoid prison and poverty long enough to secure such a job (and the education required to do so) in the first place. Importantly, they will pay the taxes that cover your medical expenses when the weight of the bills annihilate whatever meager amount of money you've managed to save in your days as a member of the employed, or when your insurance company decides enough is enough and they hold out their hands towards the fed for subsidies to cover the same. In the long run they don't need you even half as much as you need them, and they will outlive you and your opinions.