just want to say that we have had four kids over 6 years in one of the most expensive states in the us, and went from $30k to over $100k in that time frame. It is a huge jump in salary and feel very blessed regardless of the hard work, but just know most of the time was spent below the top end. If you are emotionally stable enough to have a good marriage (and therefore have kids), go for it! You will afford it, and life couldn’t get better!

Did you have a minivan to start with? Lots of support from family? Just wondering how you made it work.

FWIW, the poverty level for a 3 child household is $35k. ($44k in Alaska, $40k in Hawaii)

Probably doesn't count the vehicle troubles, but more the added food, board, and transportation in general.

How is the poverty level lower in Hawaii than in Alaska???

Probably because you're not heating your home a lot of the year in Hawaii

Interesting, hadn't thought of that, thanks!

Replacement fertility rates assume zero net immigration, which does not hold for much of the OECD. For example, Canada's total fertility rate has stayed below 2.1 since the 1970s and has fallen since to its current low of 1.4 (https://datacommons.org/place/country/CAN?category=Demograph...), but its population has been consistently growing since then due to immigration: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/960-fewer-babies-born-c...