The Kost of Kidz

My parents love me and that's all that matters.

I'm going to stay out of the debate because numbers scare me and I think it's much ado about nothing.

That said, my mom insists to this day that she didn't and doesn't like children. She gets much more joy out of being a parent now that my sister and I have grown up.

I think that this is one of those issues that's so personally variable that aggregate statistics don't really help much.

People interested should probably try to get as much parent-like experience with kids as they can before committing to it.

And, as we get wealthier, I'm confident that institutions will evolve to make it easier for good parents to have to do less sacrificing.

So, you're both crazy!

Hi Will. I find your arguments on this issue really compelling and really depressing. Why don't you seem depressed? In the long term isn't it terrible news that people don't like to have kids and that free people don't have to have kids?

Also, how do demographics affect the damage kids do to happiness? The richer you are the better? The richer you are the worse to a point? Do indians, chinese, and chinese-americans get identical happiness hits?

You guys need to have a real live throwdown/debate on the subject. Tyler Cowen can moderate.

Neither. Based on the facts you guys both raise I conclude that the optimal strategy is to have more kids but hire a nanny to take care of them. That went out of style at some point, but even middle class families could afford a Mexican one if we had a sane immigration policy in place.

Why pick only one?