Considering that if you aren’t making a lot, you can get quite a bit of money every month for each kid through child benefits until they are 18, I don’t think the cost of housing is the issue.

Here’s a radical thought: Maybe people simply don’t want to be burdened by kids.

Perhaps if we stopped pressuring mothers into believing that they NEED to have kids, or that couples can’t be complete without a real family.

Maybe then we can start normalizing the fact that not everyone actually wants (or needs) kids.

I can attest from personal experience, finances are 100% the reason me and my partner can’t have kids right now. Its very hard to justify brining a kid into this world when its hard to maintain stability for 2 adults, let alone with the costs required to raise a child.

We were evicted from our last home for no other reason than the greed of our landlord. That stress would have been tenfold if we had to go through that with kids.

I can attest from personal experience, finances are 100% the reason me and my partner can’t have kids right now.

And government child benefits wouldn’t help? If you are struggling that much (and I don’t suggest having a kid if you are struggling at all), the government will pay you monthly for the next 18 years that you have a child…

I think you need to look beyond finances to make this decision, though. Do you have the energy and time for a kid? Are you willing to put all your plans on hold for the foreseeable future, potentially burden your relationship, for a child? Will you be able to quit your job to spend your entire day caring for a child with special needs? Are you willing to care for that child beyond age 18, when the financial burden of supporting them (a third adult) could jeopardize your retirement?

The decision to have a child shouldn’t be made lightly, regardless of how strong society pushes for it. Neither should the decision to have pets, but I digress.

I do wish you and your partner all the best, and hope that you find more financial stability in your lives.

Kids under 10 aren’t expensive, especially when you’re getting a few hundred dollars extra every month from the government.

What’s expensive is going out to buy a brand new $800 stroller, a $400 crib, hundreds on toys that will outgrow or discard after a few months, luxury items that aren’t needed. In other words, new parents are more than likely overspending when they don’t need to.

Be creative and raising a kid isn’t expensive… until they become teens/adults and are still dependant on you. LOL

FYI: Stats Canada published recent data on the cost of raising a kid in Canada (how much parents spent). It’s estimated that low-income homes spend around $30,000 for a child from 0 - 12 years of age ($214 / month on average). Just throwing in some numbers in the child benefit calculator for two people making $35,000 each with around $1200 in rent a month, they’d get $207 in child benefits + other beneifts (climate action incentives, etc.). $7 out of pocket to spend on the kid… if you are overspending like people usually do.

So, yeah, it’s not the cost of having kids that turns people off from having them. The study that the article is based on even says this!

yeah and it’s possible to live on $15 of food per day without internet, electricity, a car

… but we don’t, because it’s not comfortable

like you’re literally saying that if you think raising kids is too much of a financial burden maybe you haven’t considered giving up everything in your life to pay for one

how about no… my bar for having kids (actually i never want kids for so many reasons, but if i did) is not just survival