The premise of the article is that even though some costs, such as food, have fallen precipitously in the past several decades, other costs have risen. Baldwin points the finger at child care, education and health care as the three most obvious areas where prices have climbed and will continue to pose challenges.
Those points are well taken, and depending on where you live or what health challenges your children may face, they are likely especially pronounced.
Yet it bears noting that children don't have to be all that expensive, barring catastrophe. I'm no financial planning expert, and I'm sure our family's expenses will grow as our children age. I certainly hope that's the case. All along, we've been praying that our children will reach adulthood. Part of the commitment we made bringing them into the world is to invest in their well-being so they can go and form lives of their own.
This is a topic I'm sure I'll revisit in the future, and I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below: How expensive are your children, really? What bothers me the most about any coverage of the expensiveness of children is that 1) even if it has negligible influence, it seems to implicitly discourage couples from jumping into the fray of parenting -- somebody guard the bank account! and 2) it suggests that parents have zero autonomy.
Blame the economy. Blame the diaper manufacturers. Blame the kids for growing up, wouldn't you know it, and expecting parents to feed them.
Parenting isn't easy, and tight finances are are reality for many, many American families. That is no joke. But to suggest that families struggling to make ends meet might as well give up because prices are out of control is misleading.
That is, of course, unless we've altogether forgotten the meaning of community -- whether in our churches, our families or our neighborhoods.
I'm hopeful that's not the case.
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