3 ms·

That's interesting considering one big obvious reason my coworkers/friends have 3+ kids is because they easily clear $300k+ single income and can live in 6 bedr

by swozey 3y ago

That's interesting considering one big obvious reason my coworkers/friends have 3+ kids is because they easily clear $300k+ single income and can live in 6 bedroom homes, etc. Drive those massive suburbans.. I have a very difficult time believing that the 3rd, 4th, etc children have a dad like you who still has the time to have fun with them and treat them properly and love their achievements each, etc. But it's possible. My mom has 6 siblings and they were raised like wolves, but they're boomers. I have one (older) sibling and we absolutely vied for our parents attention and do not get along whatsoever.

gambiting 3y ago
I think there's probably a few things at play here. Here in UK tech workers don't earn anywhere near what their US counterparts do. A senior programmer might be paid 50-100k depending on the company, but it's very rare to cross that level(and once you do, you start losing state benefits related to child care and paying higher and higher levels of tax). "Tech workers" definitely don't have 6-bed houses and drive massive SUVs here, at best they enjoy relaxed "upper middle class" lifestyle - newish 4 bed house on a modern estate, 2 leased cars, swimming in mortgage payments and other debt. They aren't struggling but they aren't so comfortable to have 6 kids and pay for all of their childcare costs - because everyone knows that doing so would just erase those great salaries and would most likely mean a step down in the quality of life. They will earn more than teachers, but like 2-3x as much, not 10x as much. Then most tech workers I know have had to move for their jobs - so they don't have immediate support of family, grandparents etc - so having more kids means more daily responsibilities and more daily costs for childcare. In contrast the other people I mentioned all live close to their families - so having 3 kids is not a big deal because half the time grandma is over and helps out. Like, for us we pay more in childcare(just for one child!) than what our mortgage is per month, partially because we don't have any family around us to help. These are my observations anyway, anecdotes - take them as just that.

by swozey 3y ago

gambiting 3y ago

I think there's probably a few things at play here. Here in UK tech workers don't earn anywhere near what their US counterparts do. A senior programmer might be paid 50-100k depending on the company, but it's very rare to cross that level(and once you do, you start losing state benefits related to child care and paying higher and higher levels of tax). "Tech workers" definitely don't have 6-bed houses and drive massive SUVs here, at best they enjoy relaxed "upper middle class" lifestyle - newish 4 bed house on a modern estate, 2 leased cars, swimming in mortgage payments and other debt. They aren't struggling but they aren't so comfortable to have 6 kids and pay for all of their childcare costs - because everyone knows that doing so would just erase those great salaries and would most likely mean a step down in the quality of life. They will earn more than teachers, but like 2-3x as much, not 10x as much. Then most tech workers I know have had to move for their jobs - so they don't have immediate support of family, grandparents etc - so having more kids means more daily responsibilities and more daily costs for childcare. In contrast the other people I mentioned all live close to their families - so having 3 kids is not a big deal because half the time grandma is over and helps out. Like, for us we pay more in childcare(just for one child!) than what our mortgage is per month, partially because we don't have any family around us to help. These are my observations anyway, anecdotes - take them as just that.