I am a working mom of one 6 year old. I would love to have 10 kids if i could.. my husband however does not want anymore. i have to respect his choice, and i am absolutely blessed to have the daughter i have.

i think that stay at home parents, who also choose to homeschool their children should get benefits in some way or other. I live in the province of Quebec, and the way it works here is that parents pay 7$ a day for daycare (if you go to a place that is government licensed). The government then forks out 18$ a day to the same daycare for your child. Imagine how many parents, who would LOVE to homeschool their children, would readjust their lives to stay home if the government paid THEM that amount instead?
If i chose to have an at-home (licensed) daycare, i could get paid by the government for all those kids, however, i could not be paid for my own. That saddens me! we are encouraged as parents to send our kids out to daycares, (home daycares or bigger ones).

I think we have to adjust our attitudes when it comes to wants and needs and never compare ourselves to what others have. After all we aren't in this world to have as much as the Jones' next door, but to glorify God. I think my staying home with the family is a way of doing that.

I just recently completed my income tax forms and noticed that families are getting more of their tax back. We have 4 children, so we could claim $2000 for each one (that translates into $1200 more in our pockets.) As well with the UCCB we receive a chunk of money each month from the gov't. I'd rather they give every family the money rather than just supporting daycares.

This may sound really tacky, but if Christians are having more children, then in the next generation the ratio of Christians to non-Christians will be better (does this make sense, I am having a hard time putting it in words.?)

God very clearly stopped us at two children but it always feels not quite right to me--like there should be at least one more voice in my house. Sometimes even more than the cost of living here in Seattle I feel the pressure of the pace of life--which affects how we spend money as well. There is the pressure to have kids doing everything which leads to driving all over, eating convenience foods, the costs of activities...I feel like we are always swimming upstream against the parenting culture of our city.

Psalm 84:11 No good thing will I withhold from those who walk up rightly.

Keep praying for creative ways to save money and you may surprise yourself and come up with some amazing ideas both to save and to earn that little bit extra. Finances are a little easier now for us but for some reason, I long for for the challenge we used to have and the blessings of creativity that sprang up out of necessity. Perhaps is was the pressure of adversity that made us grow!!!

We currently pay nothing in federal taxes (we get it all back, and then some) so I'm not sure tax breaks are the way to go. We get child tax credits on both a federal and state level, and the government gave us over $9000 this year.

I think instead we should be educating people. Teaching budgeting. Teaching people to buy with cash. Teaching them how to cook and save $. Teaching us how to be self-sufficient - i.e. fix our own car, sew a basic seam, garden, etc. Education on how children actually contribute to the wealth of a family!

Also, I am SOOO tired of hearing of "moving to a smaller, 2500 sq. ft. home" and "a 2000 sq. ft. starter home" and so on. I think the average American has no idea WHAT it means to live within their means. They see waitresses and newspaper columnists on TV with fabulous NY apartments and designer clothes, and figure they should have that too.

I think less government, and more power to the people is what will solve the problem.

I'm so glad you posted about this. I think it's a struggle for families of any size to raise children on a single income these days. Or perhaps it just seems harder, because we're comparing ourselves to dual-income families (which seems to be the norm here in Nova Scotia). In any case, I've often said that I wish there were more subsidies available for stay-at-home parents. The Universal Child Care Benefit has certainly been a step in the right direction, in terms of allowing parents to choose whether they want to use it towards daycare costs, or towards enabling one parent to stay home and raise their own children.

I'm curious whether you've read the book The Two-Income Trap? I haven't, but I'm thinking about borrowing it from the library. I believe it speaks to the fact that dual-income families have basically driven up the cost of living by bidding up the price of housing, etc., to the point where it is no longer affordable for single-income families. Also that dual-income families are actually at greater risk for financial disaster, since there is no person at home who could be a safety-net if someone (say a sick child, or an elderly parent) needs care, or to be able to help earn an income if the primary wage-earner loses their job or is sick or injured. They are so dependent on the two incomes that if one person loses their job, they are likely to face a financial disaster, because there is no one to pick up the slack. Anyway, I think it sound interesting - just wondering if you or any of your readers has read it.

I am in no way saying that either type of family is right or wrong - everybody's circumstances are different, and we all have to decide for ourselves. Every day I wake up grateful that we chose for me to stay home and raise our children - and even though it's a struggle sometimes, I wouldn't trade it for the world. In fact, I actually find the challenge of it kind of exciting, and am constantly (thanks to you and Crystal, and others!) finding new ways to cut back and live more simply.

Thanks so much for your blog.

Alissa