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I guess his point is that what is important is the amount of money that is left after paying rent that you can use to raise kids (at least in this context). An

I guess his point is that what is important is the amount of money that is left after paying rent that you can use to raise kids (at least in this context). An homeless person spends 0% of his income in rent, but he's not in a good position to raise kids

iguy 8y ago
What baddox's comment (about only the difference mattering) misses is this: what if you need another bedroom? In other words, it's ignoring the fact that houses come in many sizes. Anyone spending 75% of income on housing has an enormous incentive to choose a slightly smaller apartment. And is completely unable to contemplate expanding slightly. What if you want two kids... and the second one turns out to be twins? Can their grandmother come to stay for the summer & help out? If you're spending 20% of income on housing, then you have a lot more room to solve these problems. (And, as others pointed out, to get a different job which pays slightly less, etc.)
- jdavis703 8y ago
  Me and my sister shared a bedroom in a two bedroom apartment for a few years. I recentlty had neighbors that had a one bedroom with two kids. I'm not sure where this requirement of one bedroom per child comes from. Really, that's just a luxury.
  - iguy 8y ago
    Indeed, I make no claim about the size of house you ought to be able to afford. But families always have more need of space than the childless. This makes anyone contemplating children very sensitive to questions like "how much of my present after-rent income must I give up for another 100 sq ft?". And this will be very different for the guy who's found himself spending 75% (to be near google, or whatever) and the guy spending 20% (in 1958).
  - smileysteve 8y ago
    > I'm not sure where this requirement of one bedroom per child comes from. Really, that's just a luxury Relavent https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5525283 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=552528... > The average American house size has more than doubled since the 1950s; it now stands at 2,349 square feet. > Back in the 1950s and '60s, people thought it was normal for a family to have one bathroom, or for two or three growing boys to share a bedroom. Well-off people summered in tiny beach cottages on Cape Cod or off the coast of California

iguy 8y ago

What baddox's comment (about only the difference mattering) misses is this: what if you need another bedroom? In other words, it's ignoring the fact that houses come in many sizes. Anyone spending 75% of income on housing has an enormous incentive to choose a slightly smaller apartment. And is completely unable to contemplate expanding slightly. What if you want two kids... and the second one turns out to be twins? Can their grandmother come to stay for the summer & help out? If you're spending 20% of income on housing, then you have a lot more room to solve these problems. (And, as others pointed out, to get a different job which pays slightly less, etc.)

jdavis703 8y ago
Me and my sister shared a bedroom in a two bedroom apartment for a few years. I recentlty had neighbors that had a one bedroom with two kids. I'm not sure where this requirement of one bedroom per child comes from. Really, that's just a luxury.
- iguy 8y ago
  Indeed, I make no claim about the size of house you ought to be able to afford. But families always have more need of space than the childless. This makes anyone contemplating children very sensitive to questions like "how much of my present after-rent income must I give up for another 100 sq ft?". And this will be very different for the guy who's found himself spending 75% (to be near google, or whatever) and the guy spending 20% (in 1958).
- smileysteve 8y ago
  > I'm not sure where this requirement of one bedroom per child comes from. Really, that's just a luxury Relavent https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5525283 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=552528... > The average American house size has more than doubled since the 1950s; it now stands at 2,349 square feet. > Back in the 1950s and '60s, people thought it was normal for a family to have one bathroom, or for two or three growing boys to share a bedroom. Well-off people summered in tiny beach cottages on Cape Cod or off the coast of California