Population control, yes. Also, how can you take a gaggle of kids to Europe or anywhere worth going, really, unless you’re rich? How about college? In my world, paying for your child’s education is a must. Not to mention my sanity. If the amount of mess and aggravation were to grow much more, I’d be toast. I am one and done and very happy this way. I don’t think alot of this is quantifiable in terms of economics. Also, I love doing work-work, real, professional, mind-engaging work and while being a SAHM for a few years is a nice, enriching sabbatical, I wouldn’t want to do this forever, and I do think little kids need mom at home, so I’d have to just keep doing this way too long if I were to have more…

I’m not much in to the “have more kids so you can neglect them” school of parenting. While I don’t think most kids need more possessions in order to be happy, I do believe that they need experiences in order to grow and thrive, and experiences (travel, music, sports, art, time to do things) all cost money. And FTR, I don’t think that kids are better off when their parents stop taking them to enriching activities because they’d rather have more leisure time. Anyone who is going to argue that kids are better off sitting in front of the TV than they are swimming isn’t going to persuade me that their parenting advice holds much value.

“How do you know your 3 or 4th child won’t change the world in some amazing way?”
Gee, if that’s your logic, why not have 18, 20…or more?
I really, really bristle at the complete lack of any awareness of population issues with people so blithely cheering on large families. I will go so far as to say that I think, in the present climate, it is wrong.

I am actually so against pro creation, ( don’t get me wrong, I think it is a beautiful thing) but just to have kids for the sake of having kids is wrong in today’s world. I remember as a child always thinking; “why on earth did my parent make me while this world is such a difficult place to be in”. But that said, I LOVE kids and always knew that I wanted to me a mother. I have adopted two and if I win the lotto, I would adopt 10 more. Especially the needy ones that no one wants to adopt. And yes kids DO cost a lot of money even if you do everything with hand me downs.

I have 3 kids and plan to have more. Two of my three are watching a DVD right now while I goof off online. Later we’ll go to the library, and then later all three of them will keep each other company (or drive each other crazy, depends on the day) while I make dinner. I never understood couples with one family. What if that child dies? A friend of mine once told me that he thought that you’d have to be pretty arrogant to just have one child. What if it turns out to be a total screw-up? And (GP, this one’s for you) how likely is it that you’re so naturally gifted in the parenting department that you can guarantee that one trophy child you decided to have when “the time was right” and your “career could be put on hold” isn’t going to fall short of your unrealistic fantasy when it comes time to show Junior off to your friends?
My dad had 8 siblings (too many for his liking); my mom had 4. We’re aiming high.

My reason for (probably) stopping at 3 kids is health related. So now we’re looking into adoption which is way pricier than the old-fashioned way, but I think will benefit everyone involved. Of course, having kids here is cheaper with our health care.

@kate : we didn’t plan the financial side of having kids before we leapt in either, we just decided to have them because it felt like they needed to be with us. Now, I think my husband and I both feel like we can’t afford more kids, but it’s not the money that holds us back, it’s the intangible resources like time, energy and sleep.

Bunny, I’m sorry, I should’ve said that that was at least a little bit tongue-in-cheek, and I’m pretty sure that GP can take it. Even though I agree with GP about 50% of the time, I can’t be the only one who thinks that she is easily one of the most judgmental commenters around. GP is always telling the rest of us how perfect her one child is, how wonderfully she financially planned for her one child, how work-out-of-the-home-moms are selfish women, and when and how those of us who want more than one kid should have those subsequent children. I shudder to think of the new one GP would rip me if she knew about my family’s size aspirations and if she saw our total financial picture.

okay, haha about that “one family” typo! Oops! Okay, I’ve never understood families with one child (by choice). Yes, I understand the financial side, but as a parent I can’t imagine losing that single child (unlikely, but things do happen), and a sibling, I can’t imagine being stuck with “just Mom and Dad” for all those years.

sheesh on the comments going back and forth, makes me wonder if they are for real. But going back to the topic, I think the economist is shedding a different way of looking at planning children, and, typical to economists, you can’t quantify the things like sleep, exhaustion, etc, so it’s difficult to value them.

What i do think we as parents of your children do is forget that there is a “rest of my life” that won’t involve changing diapers and putting on shoes, socks and jackets hours out of the day. So the thought of having MORE children while there are young children in the house seems exhausting, the long term view is that the early years and effort are temporary, and the value of having multiple children as they go into adulthood is undervalued.

om shanti ; )

@ChiLaura, no, GP does not claim that her one child is “perfect.” You cross the line when you get personal about someone else’s child. It’s a complete asshole move and you owe her a huge apology, IMO, and I’m not even one of her defenders.

@Sierra, I understand what you’re saying, but aren’t your children pretty young? The things *my* kids (especially my older kids) want to do cost money. Swim Team, Karate, Roller Derby, Speed Skating, Art, and Band ~ all fitness or cultural experiences that they aren’t going to get riding bikes or “doing art” at the kitchen table. My life would be a lot easier if I wasn’t required to drive and pay for these things for three kids, but I don’t delude myself in to thinking that they would be better off if my husband and I chose not to make these things happen. Also, we live where it rains 9 months out of the year and I want my children to exercise daily, so we make that a priority.

@Linda: my girls are young! you are so right. My teenage stepson has gone through a few extracurricular activities, but mostly he’s very focused on school these days, so we haven’t really done the expensive rounds of sports and activities for older kids.

@GP My husband and I can’t afford to take ourselves to Europe so I’m not sure how that’s relevant … I suppose it all depends on what sort of places you consider “worth going to.” I suspect the most exotic trip we’ll be taking our kids on is cross country to visit my parents. There will probably be a whole lot of camping vacations because they’re CHEAP.

I’m still working on paying off the L&D bill for my 1 y.o. DD. 15k (minimum) just to bring that little bundle of joy home from the hospital….and the OP is alleging kids arent expensive? WTF? And those medical costs are the reason I wont have more. I have alot of resentment about what happened to me w/my job while i was pg but was dependant on that job for the health insurance…I still had to pay about $2500. It cost me $400/mo to add baby onto my policy. Now my neighbor has 4 kids under the age of 6 and got medicaid to pay for all her pregnancies and i believe the kids are still on it. And she is a SAHMMaybe that is the way to go. Do I have the right to be pissed??/

Wow, Chilaura! I’ve never read these comments before & don’t know if they’re a common occurrence, but from the back-n-forth that I just read I find you one of the most disrespectful people I can think of. If I thought that the majority of the commentators are like you I’d completely stop subscribing to this site, as I don’t need that type of negativity in my life. Your attitude and comments are really defensive & you are acting really ugly. I sure hope you’re proud of yourself. What an example you are to your children.

His book seems as silly, does this man have children? I have to question the parents who agree that parenting is cheap, and have the desire for very large families (unless there rich). My husband and I have one daughter, we intended on a large family but I’m pretty sure were done. I have to agree with the poster (GP, I think) who made the point about taking trips and such, how is that possible with a large family? Not only that but what about housing? Admittedly I live in an expensive area a modest simple home, two or maybe three bedrooms, here is about 300k. Where do you put all of your children? How is a larger home cheaper? My daughter is three, she has or is taking; swimming, kung fu, Mandarin, Spanish, ballet, gymnastics, music, yoga, and a craft/story time. All of these things cost money, every single one. Now multiply that by two, the number is larger and ironically the more you multiply it by the larger it gets. And that doesn’t even include preschool so lets throw another 4K per a kid into the equation! Now there is no need for her to take all of these things, I know this. However, she enjoys them, so why shouldn’t she have the opportunity? And it is not as though I hustle her off to classes with no family time in the mix. We hike, we camp, we kayak, have family game nights and all of that, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t have the opportunity to have other experiences.

We never planned the financial side of having children, just the emotional part. When we were ready emotionally, we got pregnant. We lived in a one-bedroom apartment and drove an OLD car and ate Hamburger Helper. She had a handful of toys and two or three board books and hand-me-down clothes and baby gear. But we spent every day walking around the neighborhood, looking at bugs and flowers. We went to the library, the park, the beach, the grocery store. She is 8 now, has skipped a grade, and is reading Jane Austen.

She also has 3 little brothers, just a few years younger. Our financial status, with the advancement of my husband’s education and career (we had our first right out of college, I chose to stay home), has improved dramatically. We eat well, and live in a great area with fantastic schools, but we save a lot more than we spend. Instead of spending money and time on organized sports and activities for our young kids, we run around at the park, swim, hike, launch rockets (my husband’s hobby), go to the library, and do anything free we can find. We save up for our family vacations, and do them on a budget (beach, Disney). I am looking at getting my older kids (8 and 6) into organized activities, but I think I can even wait a few years. I’m not raising professional athletes or artists (although my 2-year-old looks way more athletic than his younger siblings), I’m raising loving, kind, generous, intelligent, thoughtful children.

You don’t need a lot of money to raise kids. It helps to have some, but perhaps having too much might hurt. I wouldn’t mind finding out, but for now, I think my kids are turning out great, and with a lot less “stuff” than their peers.

Go do some research, Jesse. We need to keep the species going, I suppose, but certainly having one or maybe two children is more socially responsible than having more than that. The children will procreate as well…its an exponential thing (you can look that word up, too, if you don’t know what it means).

I appear to be the only one who has read this article, and also read Caplan’s book. I also avidly follow his blog. To answer several important questions reader have brought up.

1. Bryan Caplan has three kids and he parents them in the style he recommends to others.
2. To GP and the others concerned about population, Caplan argues that the concept of overpopulation and resource depletion is BS. He shows that humans have always invented their way out of resource crises in the past, and will do so in the future. Having more kids makes it easier to do this, because the more people you are, the more likely it is one will grow up to solve a resource problem.
3. To people who argue that it is hard to grow up in this day and age, he basically says you’re irrationally gloomy. He provides plenty of evidence that this age is a paradise for kids compared to the past.
4. To people who say kids are expensive, he points out that we were poorer in the 50s, but also had larger families. If kids are expensive today we likely spend too much money on them.