How many kids are 'too many'?

azjh77

I read this article with interest, as I always laugh at those 'children cost a squillion pounds in the first 6 months' pieces. Only if you buy all the expensive gear! I know people with £500 prams and £300 cots...haven't they heard of 'trade-it' ! My ikea cot cost me £20. They even have 'wet wipe warmers' now. Mothercare have a lot to answer for, producing magazines aimed at first time parents telling them they 'need' :nappy holders, moses baskets, Cot mobiles etc...

Anyway, the basic premise is that by having 3 instead of 4 children, you end up paying loads... http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/consumer/article.html?in_article_id=418555&in_page_id=5

I especially liked the bit about five people in a four bed house :eek: how can they live!

'Finding enough space for a family of five can be an expensive headache. The Rowntrees live in a four-bedroom house and mum Paula says: 'We discussed whether we should try to move to a bigger property, but we felt that by rearranging rooms we could get by.'

We have 6 of us in 2 bedrooms at the moment (granted the babies don't take up a lot of room) Am I evil by not going out and buying a house big enough to ensure all the children get their own room? - I thought this was a new thing, I used to share a room when I lived at home.

I was also interested to read about the car. We have a 8 seater Toyota Previa which we paid £1,800 for - in cash! my greatest savings achievement! I am sure that is cheaper than a lot of people pay for smaller cars.

So, should you restrict the number of children you have for fear of not having holidays and enough house space? or as a MSE can we make ANY number of children work? (I think i'll stick to 4 for now though.....)

Lusignan

I'm probably the wrong person to answer this, but I would consider one child one too many.

azjh77

You've met my kids then!

dollop

my mate has 10 kids,dunno how they go on lol.they get by and there a happy close bunch.

Broken_hearted

Three kids is too many most hotel rooms only fit a family of four people.

SoozieSoo

I have no idea how those with large families manage. We have one, my husband is on a good wage and we struggle. We do pay for everything in cash and have no debt, but cannot afford to buy a house on one wage, even a tiny terrace.
You both have to be working full time thesedays to be able to afford a mortgage, run a car etc. A mother working full time does not fit in well with family life.

If we could manage on one wage I would have had more children. Unfortunatly society is not set up like that anymore. I need to work if we are to buy a house and put our child through uni.

Becles

SoozieSoo wrote: »

You both have to be working full time thesedays to be able to afford a mortgage, run a car etc. A mother working full time does not fit in well with family life.

I disagree.

I only worked part time since having my boys, and will just return part time after my maternity leave. We still have a mortgage, decent car each etc.

It's learning to make the most of what you do have coming in to get the lifestyle you want to lead. In our case we don't smoke, drink a little and don't go out much, but that suits us as we love this house and would rather spend money on the mortgage.

I've been told I'm brave, mad and all sorts for having a third, but we'll cross bridges like holidays in the future. We'll probably DIY flights and hire a large apartment/villa, which will save compared to a package holiday in a hotel.

JennyW_2

Lusignan wrote: »

I'm probably the wrong person to answer this, but I would consider one child one too many.

:rotfl: this is what I was going to say

But seriously I think the trend seems to be towards smaller families? It's soooo expensive having children now. I'm one of 4 and only one of us has produced a child and that was only 2 weeks ago. My mum was one of 6 and all of her sisters/brothers had quite a few children (ie 4/5 offspring). I'm 40 now and most of my friends have 1 or 2 tops and struggling financially.

N9eav

I have 4 and I manage barely. Finacially it's easier when they are younger as you can get Child tax credit and stuff. Once they get to late teens, it's crippling. I have to pay for college bus, the tax credits adn family allowance stops, they want to drive, they eat more..... It's great to have kids. I mean who else is going to visit you when you are old?

bunty109

SoozieSoo wrote: »

I have no idea how those with large families manage. We have one, my husband is on a good wage and we struggle. We do pay for everything in cash and have no debt, but cannot afford to buy a house on one wage, even a tiny terrace.
You both have to be working full time thesedays to be able to afford a mortgage, run a car etc. A mother working full time does not fit in well with family life.

If we could manage on one wage I would have had more children. Unfortunatly society is not set up like that anymore. I need to work if we are to buy a house and put our child through uni.

I really feel for you. I think we were lucky in that we got on the housing ladder whilst it was still affordable and I got pregnant and pretty much lost my wage within a year of being married. My OH has done ok at work so although I work part-time now we could just about manage if I didn't. We've been lucky enough to have 3 kids (Although unlucky enough to have had them all awake separately last night with earache!!).

What's also got to be of interest is the large numbers of people like Sooz who can't afford to have a second because of mortgage issues and the ever growing number of people who are choosing not to have children. Bearing in mind it is the current generation who pay for the healthcare and pensions of the older one, by the time we are over 60 there will be a very large ageing population with far fewer young ones to help fund the system through taxes etc.

I know this is a bit off topic, but it makes me wonder how long it will be before the UK may have to consider going the way of France and paying people to have third children...or even paying them to have second child?

SoozieSoo

Becles wrote: »

I disagree.

I only worked part time since having my boys, and will just return part time after my maternity leave. We still have a mortgage, decent car each etc.

It's learning to make the most of what you do have coming in to get the lifestyle you want to lead. In our case we don't smoke, drink a little and don't go out much, but that suits us as we love this house and would rather spend money on the mortgage.

We could not get a mortgage on my husbands wage alone. They simply would not lend us enough money to buy anything. Even with 2 wages we will struggle. I imagine you bought your house before the boom.

Also if I had another child paying out for childcare would not make it worth my while going to work.