BRINGING up children is a labour of love, and a pricey one at that. Thankfully, most governments offer some form of tax breaks or cash benefits to ease the burden. In all but one of 30 OECD countries, a married one-earner couple with two children takes home more money than a single person with no children on the same average annual salary. Measured at purchasing-power parity, a family in Luxembourg has the highest overall net income of $48,980, out of an average gross wage of $49,488. But the best countries for families are Ireland or the Czech Republic, where “net” incomes end up higher than gross. British singletons subsidise families less than their German counterparts, who take home almost $10,000 less from almost the same salary. Mexico, the poorest of the OECD countries, is the only place where married couples with children get no breaks at all.

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