[SauronOfMordor]

Foreign Affairs cites the $1 million figure-no idea who came up with that or how-but the $1 million includes lost wages. The stat says $200,000 for each kid, PLUS college costs on top of that.

What you're really saying is that it costs a lot to provide a child with a middle-class life thru to independence. If you're a welfare mom just cranking out the kids and not spending anything on them, then your costs are considerably lower

And we can thereby see why the middle-class has such a low birth rate

[kaylar]

Yep. The $200, 000 probably is for a lot more than just clothes, a roof, food-I'm sure it includes lots of goodies. And people feel guilty if they can't give their kids what they had, or what other kids have.

[RobbyS]

"Middle class life style" means that we raise our kids as though they were young lords and ladies. I didn't even have a radio in my bedroom when I was a kid, and I grew up in a Middle-class house. That was, however, before they invented the transistor radio and a radio cost relatively the same as a small TV set today. Fifty years ago people used to buy houses with the equivalent of today's welfare checks.