Should being a parent come with a required minimum income?

Of all the reasons that people do not seem to be having as many kids as before, the fact that they feel like they can’t afford them is one of the most common. Starting a family is expensive even when parents try to do it on a budget. According to the New York Times, an increasing number of young couples feel like they don’t have enough time to make the money they need to bring children into the world without struggling financially. They are more afraid of what their monthly budget is going to look like than the lifestyle shift. 

The conversation of kids and finances can be a tricky one to have, as everybody takes a slightly different perspective on it. On the one hand, countless people throughout the whole of human history have managed to raise children with limited resources; surely, the relative luxury we enjoy nowadays should make the process even easier. On the other hand, standards of parenting have been raised to the level that a lot of moms and dads feel like they have to spend large amounts on their kids to be acceptable parents. Also, it’s not like the basics come cheap anymore.