[dragonwriter]

> No one ever explains why having children in poverty makes perfect sense.

Because in societies with weak social support networks, your children are your old-age/disability/etc. support system. That's why there's a pretty clear inverse relationship between strength of social support networks and birth rate. (Its why the developed world generally has lower birthrates than the developing world, and why within the developed world, the US has a higher birthrate than many other countries.)