> People who live with or near their parents have a lot more support in terms of child care, ability to go back to work, help with chores (buying/changing diape

> People who live with or near their parents have a lot more support in terms of child care, ability to go back to work, help with chores (buying/changing diapers etc.). Definitely, but lack of mobility comes with its own (monetary and other) costs, in the modern economy especially. > We're all on my company's group plan. I haven't seen the kind of expenses you are alluding to. With most employers, adding your kid(s) to insurance most likely runs a few hundred dollars a month (over what you'd be paying otherwise) in premiums, and for the vast majority of people that'll still come with a large (high-four- or low-five-figures) max-out-of-pocket if something actually goes wrong with any of you. I expect spending ~$25,000 on medical expenses (including the birth and prenatal care, and cost of adding the kid to insurance) by the time a kid's 5 is fairly normal, even if the kid's fairly healthy (it can get so much worse than that if they're not), and that's just one expense. That figure's certainly in line with what I've seen for various friends who've started families in the last few years, ranging from very blue-collar up to other software developers. There are employers who provide way better (very low max-out-of-pocket) insurance and cover most or all of the premium, even for family plans. Most people aren't employed by those employers, though. I live in a city with, I gather, remarkably cheap child care. You're still looking at about $8,000/yr/kid if you don't mind a daycare that's not particularly good. If one partner stays home instead, the cost is much higher, even assuming pretty minimal earning potential. We do have family nearby, luckily, and we lean on them for help with child care all the time, but not for dedicated 5-days-a-week 48ish-weeks-a-year care. I'm sure some people get full-time care from family members who'd not otherwise be working, so it's basically free, but I doubt it's the norm. Admittedly, the worst expenses are front-loaded. Lost income or childcare costs drop a lot when kids start going to school. The initial birth is gonna hit whatever your max-out-of-pocket is with your insurance, which is usually gonna be several thousand, but that's a one-time cost. Unfortunately, a dollar invested the day your kid is born is also worth a lot more than $1 by the time they leave the house, so the fact that it's front loaded isn't exactly a good thing, as far as retirement savings goes.