The "it's expensive to raise a family" is simply Parkinson's Law for budgeting. Similarly also due to hedonic treadmill. 2 main issues I observe, 1. folks exp

The "it's expensive to raise a family" is simply Parkinson's Law for budgeting. Similarly also due to hedonic treadmill. 2 main issues I observe, 1. folks expand their personal expenditure to live pay check to paycheck and then have a kid. The child is on top of them already spending everything, no wonder they think it's too expensive. 2. Having children later, they think they need to provide that child with their current standard of living or better. Imagine the standard of living a 21 yr old parent provides vs a 31 yr old vs a 41 yr old. All 3 of those children are likely to survive. Yes the older parents likely provide a superior outcome on some fronts, but that doesn't mean the 21 yr olds do not provide an adequate outcome. Children often just need the basics in most areas of expenditure. Eg: Feed them a balanced diet with home cooked foods instead of expensive dining out and convenience[1] foods, let them play local soccer or basketball instead of expensive sports like football/hockey (unless you believe you have the genes to produce a NHL/NFL star). Spend time with them teaching them things (or learning together) like languages, small electronics kits, programming, music. It doesn't have to be expensive private lessons. You can find more similarly minded advice at https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ -- eg the most recent blog post is pretty bang on point https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2022/12/10/the-california-effect/ https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2022/12/10/the-california-ef... [1]: which often proves more costly both in time and money, in reality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTtEaji27A8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTtEaji27A8