[nisse72]

> you can’t just choose to not pay for things.

> Want to have a child?

If you can't afford to have a child, then you can (and probably should) choose to not have a child.

If I need something for my occupation, then my employer will pay for it.

The other things you mention seem to be issues primarily in the US, as getting sick or having an accident won't leave you out of pocket in any other western countries that I am aware of.

[jchw]

I agree you shouldn’t have a child if you can’t afford one, but are you saying it would be OK if the median family income could not support a child?

> The other things you mention seem to be issues primarily in the US, as getting sick or having an accident won't leave you out of pocket in any other western countries that I am aware of.

Well that’s kind of important considering this article is about the U.S. and uses U.S. median income figures and U.S. inflation.

[rayiner]

The median family income is $80,000. That’s definitely enough to support two children in median parts of the country.

[seem_2211]

I think the amount you need to make to 'afford' to have a child is so small, that it's not really worth talking about for the average American family (NB: in this case I'm talking about a married couple).

If you want to drive 2 new cars, put your kids into a private school and have a 5,000 square foot home, yeah, you'll need a fairly large chunk of change. But none of those things are necessary to be a good parent.