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> (because we’ve socialized one of the largest costs of having children and made it cheaper for would-be parents who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the re

> (because we’ve socialized one of the largest costs of having children and made it cheaper for would-be parents who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the responsibility to have more children). Food is really, really far from being one of the highest costs of having children. I guess maybe it's the highest-cost thing that isn't one of the high-cost things, if that makes sense. Housing, healthcare, and childcare (= lost wages & benefits if a parent stays home, so still incredibly expensive) are so far ahead of everything else that most of the other typical expenses barely matter as far as the "have a kid or don't" decision. Healthcare in particular is the one you're taking out a reverse-lottery-ticket on every time you have a kid. They come out with serious chronic health problems, congrats, your annual spending is now 20+% higher indefinitely. And a decent chance you'll be declaring bankruptcy pretty soon. We could have fed each of our kids for several years just from the medical costs of their entirely uncomplicated pregnancies and births. And we had insurance. Above-average insurance for our area, for a couple of them, even. [EDIT] US perspective, of course. Some or all of these three very-expensive categories are taken care of by the public, to one degree or another, in ~all other developed states.

SllX 4y ago
Those are very middle class cost breakdowns. At a low enough income bracket you basically don’t pay for health care or child care because you simply don’t have it, or you rely on family, assistance programs and charities. The after school program was effectively my “daycare” through the end of 4th grade post-Foster care and what I did after school after that was basically on me. The City was my oyster. I also went without medical care as a teenager. In this simplified environment, childcare and medical care (at least pre-Obamacare) are luxuries you do without, so shelter and food take precedence as the preeminent costs at that point (for some extra irony, we were just past the cutoff point for school lunch from my Middle School years onwards). Life is tougher that way, but it’s survivable.

SllX 4y ago

Those are very middle class cost breakdowns. At a low enough income bracket you basically don’t pay for health care or child care because you simply don’t have it, or you rely on family, assistance programs and charities. The after school program was effectively my “daycare” through the end of 4th grade post-Foster care and what I did after school after that was basically on me. The City was my oyster. I also went without medical care as a teenager. In this simplified environment, childcare and medical care (at least pre-Obamacare) are luxuries you do without, so shelter and food take precedence as the preeminent costs at that point (for some extra irony, we were just past the cutoff point for school lunch from my Middle School years onwards). Life is tougher that way, but it’s survivable.