Both partners having to work full time just to pay the bills makes it harder for people my age to have kids.
When we were first married, my lovely bride and I knew we couldn't afford kids. My sister-in-law commented that if we waited until we can afford them, we might never have them.
Our first child was born nine days after our first anniversary. We struggled for decades on my job plus Mrs. Chandler's providing day care for other folks. We drove some pretty crappy cars over the years. Our home was small. We didn't have the latest toys or go on expensive vacations. But our kids all turned out great and we have a very close extended family.
It's all in your priorities.
“Both partners having to work full time just to pay the bills makes it harder for people my age to have kids.”
Harder, but not impossible.
In WWII, women were encouraged to work as an act of patriotism. Then in the sixties, Betty Friedan decided that staying home could not possibly be fulfilling and wrote a seductive book that got women who fell for her claptrap out of the house in droves. The instant women controlled their own pocketbooks, amazingly (/sarc), the cost of everything increased just because it could. That caused even more women to enter the workforce because those women who hadn’t fallen into the trap couldn’t afford anything anymore.
Considering the massive negative effect this has had on society, maybe it would be an act of patriotism for moms to stay home. Why? Just think. Overnight it would decrease our gasoline usage by more than half and terrorists would not be financing their operations with our money. Oh...and it would decrease our carbon footprint. ;)