> Extremely unlikely there will ever be a will to do this considering the long term value to be compensated (hundreds of thousands of dollars per child, if not $1MM).
Parent here. You don’t need $1mm to raise a kid. You don’t need anywhere close to that, actually.
Kids aren’t free, obviously, but this internet meme that they’ll bankrupt you is getting out of control.
Honestly, how do you think people making the median US household income are affording kids? Multiple kids, even? I hope it’s obvious that households with two kids earning <$100K per year (a common situation) aren’t spending $1mm on each of them.
What people prefer is what matters, now that people can enjoy sex without worrying about having kids. I would not have had kids with a household income less than $100k (or even $200k), but that is just my preference for the type of life I would have wanted for the kids. I grew up poor as the child of struggling immigrants, and I want my kids to be very far from that quality of life for the portion of their life I am responsible for.
I’m not sure how you can spend a 200k income on a kid and avoid them becoming spoiled rotten.
Having been poor, you should have a good sense of just how little money it actually takes to leave the insecurity & want far behind (in my own experience & opinion)
I think a lot of people on this site are from Silicon Valley, and what they actually mean is "I wouldn't start a family until I could afford a 3-bedroom house in a reasonable school district, and you can't afford such a house in Silicon Valley without a 6-figure income"
I did not say their cost ($270k in 2022 inflation adjusted dollars per child in the US). I said their long term value (over their lifetime to society).
If you’re at a median income, you’re barely getting by with kids.
Parent here. You don’t need $1mm to raise a kid. You don’t need anywhere close to that, actually.
Kids aren’t free, obviously, but this internet meme that they’ll bankrupt you is getting out of control.
Honestly, how do you think people making the median US household income are affording kids? Multiple kids, even? I hope it’s obvious that households with two kids earning <$100K per year (a common situation) aren’t spending $1mm on each of them.