Yet when Pew Research Center surveyed 18- to 34-year-olds last year, a little over half said they would like to become parents one day. In a separate 2021 survey, Pew found 44% of childless adults ages 18 to 49 said they were not too likely, or not at all likely, to have children, up from 37% who said the same thing in 2018.
….
Middle-class households with a preschooler more than quadrupled spending on child care alone between 1995 and 2023, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics and Department of Agriculture data by Scott Winship at think tank the American Enterprise Institute.
Yet only about half of the increase is due to rising prices for the same quality and quantity of care. (Child care prices are up 180% overall since the mid-90s, according to BLS data.)
The remaining half is coming from parents choosing more personalized or accredited care for a given 3- to 5-year-old, or paying for more hours, Winship says.
“People say kids are more expensive, but a lot of this comes from parenting becoming more intensive so people are spending more on their kids,” says Melissa Kearney, an economist at the University of Maryland who researches children and families
It’s not money as the deciding factor:
With a combined income of $280,000, the couple is able to put about $4,500 a month toward what they hope will be a mid-50s retirement.
And they don’t plan to have kids and they live in less expensive city.
Costs are not the issue – as illustrated by the child care example above.
We can’t compare child care costs of the past today as they are different goods and services.
It’s similar to how we compare home prices in the 1970s, 1980s, etc to today, and get upset about higher home prices – while neglecting that homes have grown significantly larger, with more specialty features.
The home bought in the 1970s/1980s is not the same house as today.
Average home size in sq ft by decade
1920: 1,048 sq ft
1930: 1,129
1940: 1,177
1950: 983
1960: 1,289
1970: 1,500
1980: 1,740
1990: 2,080
2000: 2,266
2010: 2,392
2014: 2,657
