Pay pregnant smokers to quit, and soon it will be vouchers for burglars to behave | Melissa Kite

Cash incentives may affect behaviour, but what about the moral implications of being rewarded for misbehaving?

Savvy policymakers have long argued that working with people’s natural instincts always produces the best results. Incentivising citizens to act responsibly is an idea beloved of the centre-right, because when done correctly it can produce social benefits quicker than any penalty or tax, or so the argument goes. I suspect that if householders thought increased recycling would keep their council tax bills down, the amount of rubbish diligently sorted each week would go through the roof.

Where is the harm, therefore, in paying pregnant women £400 to stop smoking if it results in more of them staying off cigarettes, and reduces NHS spending by cutting the health problems associated with smoking mothers?

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from Pregnancy | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1yyut5S