[truthguy]

I know a young couple who don't have children. They are ideal for what I'd consider good parents. When I kinda asked why (while discretely trying to be polite) or when they might have children, they replied that they were saving for a house. They wanted a house in a good neighborhood. But even with the decline in real estate prices, homes in good neighborhoods are still sky high. So I asked why they didn't just get a starter home and work their way up. They reply was that most starters were in dangerous places where you put your life at risk. They wanted a home in a neighborhood that was safe enough for children. Starter homes in good neighborhoods are very rare.

So it occurred to me that the home my father purchased after coming home from WW2 was quite small and not fancy at all with only 1 bath and 2 Bedrooms. But it WAS safe. Remember it was the early 1950's and the demographics were very different. So even though the homes were very modest, they were in safe neighborhoods and typically with decent schools. This isn't true today. To get into a safe neighborhood with good schools it takes a ton of money and most young couples hoping to have children simply don't have that type of money. This is a big change in society and accounts for the low birth rates of many groups particularly young white couples.

[WorldviewDad]

Each couple has to determine this for themselves...my experience has been that when people have talked to me about the things they need to save up for in order to have children...most of the things are not that important, and then I end up scratching my head when they go right into the discussion about the two new cars that they just bought, or the new cell phone plan, or the $100 month cable bill, etc.

Just for back ground, several people do talk to me about children since they are not used to seeing a family with seven children...so I even have strangers approach me at times. For the most part they start out thinking that it is great to see a large family and then go right into how expensive it is to have a child and why they could never have more then one or two. When I tell them that we are a single income family and most of the items they talk about being expensive don’t need to be (buy used if you cannot pay cash for new...works for cars, lawnmowers, clothes, appliances, cribs, highchair, etc.) they seem shocked that I would think like that.

I guess my outlook might be different then most...my wife and I were told by our doctor as a young married couple that we would not be able to have children, and after further testing had that confirmed by other doctors. We decided to leave this in God’s hands and He blessed us with seven children over the next seventeen years.

I have a great life because of the children and I just wish that more people would be able to experience this. I can truely agree with Scripture that they are a blessing...