I just saw a post that mentioned how disabled is one of the only minority groups you can become a member of at any time. It’s a good reminder that a lot of people in dire straits may have been in a different position prior to that. I know someone with two kids who got cancer. They didn’t have any family and they were unable to continue working. Their life changed completely due to no fault of their own. People get laid off, or their kids get sick and they have increased medical costs AND increased parental duties. I know a nurse who was making good money and was in an accident and became partially paralyzed. She’s still willing to work but is not able to get the tools or rehab needed to get to a position to do that. You might be able to argue that they should have all planned better, but no one has the buffer needed for so many things. Some people who were planning on being stay at homes take their kids somewhere safe knowing they can’t provide for them in order to shield them from abuse.

I know your comment was about people who have kids while not being able to afford them, I just think it’s important to point out that not all parents who are struggling started out that way. That’s not to mention the issues of access to sex ed, preventative measures, or social pressures. It’s important to remember that very few people actually want to raise kids in environments where they’re not provided for.

A lot of people know kids are expensive, but very few non-parents really grasp just how expensive - the nickels and dimes turn into fifties and hundreds pretty fast.

And that’s before you run into things like medical complications!