Sure, there are multiple ways of reducing these costs. But the same could be said about consumption among people who don’t have children. So I’d say that raising children is relatively expensive compared with other forms of consumption.
Of course—I’m not suggesting otherwise. My point is just to say that you can cut other forms of spending as well, just as you can cut spending on raising a child.
Yes, it’s ultimately a matter of prioritisation. My point is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive, so cost needn’t be the overriding factor in deciding whether to have children or not.
Sure, there are multiple ways of reducing these costs. But the same could be said about consumption among people who don’t have children. So I’d say that raising children is relatively expensive compared with other forms of consumption.
There’s an important difference in kind here – raising children is a qualitatively different form of “consumption” than other kinds of consumption.
Of course—I’m not suggesting otherwise. My point is just to say that you can cut other forms of spending as well, just as you can cut spending on raising a child.
Yes, it’s ultimately a matter of prioritisation. My point is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive, so cost needn’t be the overriding factor in deciding whether to have children or not.
I bet cost often gets used as an excuse here.
Hmmm… something about making the two commensurable feels weird to me… (not sure what it is about it yet).