[mellavora]

You forgot to mention: take care of the children during the day so both parents can work the kinds of jobs which you can't do with children running around.

Which is a bit sad, pre-industrial revolution children could work and help with chores, both for sustenance farmers and for tradesmen. They were a net positive from a rather early age, and I'm pretty sure this had a (positive) impact on their psychological development as well.