In Sydney you'd need around 72% of a minimal wage to cover your rent. And you need food, transportation, clothes & etc ... So to begin thinking about having ki

In Sydney you'd need around 72% of a minimal wage to cover your rent. And you need food, transportation, clothes & etc ... So to begin thinking about having kids you'd need to make a few very hard choices: 1. forget of owning a home in your life time based on a regular salary 2. earn at least +1.5K AUD/month per child Sometimes it's easier for a parent to stay at home and usually it's the woman, because when the children are small they are better taken care by her. So it's at least 1 - 1.5 year off work. After that before children grow at least to 3-4 years old it's always going to a doctor or needing time to stay at home with the child. This disadvantages the career of a person staying at home and you need that second income to pay for the childcare. People aren't stupid, that's why when the going gets tough they don't want to have additional problems to worry about.