Peter Costello’s baby bonus encouraged Australians to have extra children, particularly among women on low or no incomes, the first research of its kind has confirmed, with each extra child costing taxpayers $86,000.

While the research, by the independent e61 think tank, suggests that in its first year of operation the bonus delivered an extra 16,250 babies, those behind the work cautioned such a generous handout may not work as well today given other financial supports in place for families.

And the research has already come under fire for ignoring long-term demographic trends and the failure of similar and even more generous pro-baby payment policies across the rest of the world.

The decade-long bonus started in mid-2004 when Costello famously encouraged Australians to have more child

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