You claim to be disagreeing but I think you are agreeing with that comment. By referring to "opportunity cost", the author means precisely that when a woman works it is harder to have a large family. Not having a job is one opportunity cost of children.

Just driving is pretty expensive. Not owning a car saves loads. Unfortunately, it usually takes a lot of money to live somewhere that doesn't require one.

Also worth noting - my wife would be at home with the kid right now (I have a much higher income) except she has substantial student debt, so off to work she goes. This means paying for creche too.

We couldn't afford creche fees for two kids, and she can't afford not to work due to aforementioned debt.

Also we had a kid because we were approaching mid thirties and it was a now or never thing, but it would have been nice to get a home big enough for two kids (a 3 bed apartment, or a bigger 2 bedroom apartment, would suffice) but the numbers don't add up.

The number of women who WANT to work is a lot lower than everyone wants to admit. And when they see the option to leave the working world, many of them take it. So much education that just gets wasted when they realize that having a career is not nearly as fulfilling as they have been led to believe.

If I won the lottery tomorrow, my first thought would be "sweet, we can afford a third kid!"

Some are fullfilled, some are not.

I know a number of families who ran the numbers and found out that the second income didn’t offset the cost of childcare. Or if it did, the excess income was so low as to be negligible. Don’t forget that there are tax implications to having a second income.

In America perhaps. Europeans seem to manage, generally on lower salaries than Americans...

We're immigrants. Documented, of course. Got jealous of people with over a month of vacation and decided to do something about it.

If I can work out a remote work situation we might buy a cheap house and have another kid but tbh I'm terrified because my family has autism in its genes, and maternal age is a risk factor.

Of course, if we'd started off European, she wouldn't have the student debt. Bit of a bummer there.

You should check your numbers. Having kids is essentially never a money-making proposition.

I thought I was refuting the point, but in fact, agreed with the point.

Whoops!

For instance, an 8-year-old can do laundry (except for carrying the basket), or vacuum, or prepare sandwiches for the entire family's lunches. A 12-year-old can change diapers, assist in the kitchen, or keep an eye on younger children of any age for an hour or two while Mom and Dad are a couple rooms away cooking or doing other chores. In some states, a 15-year-old can drive siblings to school; and in most a 17-year-old can drive them to other destinations.

One thing I've noticed is that the children in these families are much more mature, responsible, and independent than children of similar ages in 1-3 child families.