Here is an idea for more family-friendly government policy: votes for children. A multi-party group of 46 German parliamentarians has proposed that every German citizen should have the right to vote, and that parents should be able to exercise the vote for their children. Currently, Germany follows the lead of most other democratic countries in limiting voting to adults 18 years of age and older. Some German states allow voting starting at age 16 for local elections.

The idea has backing from some members of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, the centre-left Social Democratic Party and the free-market Free Democratic Party, as well as the former minister for family affairs and the Bundestag vice-president. A similar proposal was defeated in 2005 because it would require a change in the Constitution. Opponents argued that parents would vote according to their own wishes and not those of their children (which shows how… click here to read whole article and make comments