[choirgirl]

I love the incredibly short mid-life crisis. I'm convinced a lot of women end up having kids because they feel really broody for a short period of time, get pregnant quickly, and bam! that's it. I'm not sure it's a really sustained desire for everyone. And the guys end up going along with it or not. I realise for some people it is a really sustained desire, something they've wanted all their lives, but I really think the accident/having a baby on a whim factor is more common than recognised. Then they have kid number two, because, there's no point going to all that effort just for the one kid. You might as well have two.

As for how people afford it, tax credits. I mean, I know lots of people just earn enough, but I assume we're talking about the people that don't. In the noughties I had no idea how many people were on them, even quite high up the earnings ladder, or how much they were worth. Or that you could claim them if you had savings. Or that you could put them on a mortgage application and have them counted as income. Anyway, when I found out it explained a lot. Basically the value of family benefits (and housing benefit) has rocketed in the last 15 years. That's how some people can afford it. They can't really. Family benefits include help with childcare costs, better maternity leave, so that more mothers work, so even if the dad has a shittier job than in the past, things still work out the same or better. Sure, people stop spending money on themselves and buy their kids stuff instead. But it's mainly the value of family benefits. (It's also why they cut disability benefits and the dole so severely. It's because most people aren't on those and think they'll never need them, but millions are claiming tax credits for years so those have more value to them and they don't want those cut. )