i think there is definitely some validity to this. i am not sure about all of the worry though. of course serious sacrifices will have to be made for some families, but i think times are not so hard as people make them out to be. this is nothing like a famine speaking comparitively.

Maybe I am thinking in terms a little relatively here, but having your 4th baby, and deciding to have your 1st are two different balls of wax. Not having your 4th is a good economics decision. Deciding you are young and do not have the monetary resources to have your first, think again.
Everyone is young once, and we all thought we did not have enough money then, but God provided. Start your family, dont get crazy with multiple children, but get moving. By the time you have acclimated the finances for 1, a 2nd one is less of a destabilizing influence.

I don’t think anyone ever thinks they can handle another kid. You manage. Sometimes that takes sacrifices. You manage.

Having a child is a lifelong commitment. There will be problems and pain. And costs. We ran out of money for college.
That said, I am glad we have them.

I am experiencing this right now. My wife and I just got pregnant! Although we wanted this to happen and were just trying to trust God’s timing it still brings out some questions. The day before we found out we were pregnant I lost my job, and to add on to that I am trying to work my way through Seminary.
God brought a guy into my life this year at school that has 3 kids, one more coming this month. Neither he or his wife work and God has provided all their needs for the last year.
I struggled with his decision not to work in light 1 Timothy 5. However, our relationship has taught me and prepared me in light of my current situation that I (we all) should learn to be content no matter what the situation or what the circumstances (Phil. 4). And that I can count on Him to carry me through (not out of always)
With all that I can not wait to be a daddy!

The personal finance advisor on NPR’s Marketplace Money had a great piece of advice about this a few months ago. Someone asked if it was better to put off having kids until he and his wife were out of debt in about five years. His advice: so where do you want to be in five year – out of debt, or still in debt but with a four-year-old? He said that there was never a perfect time to have children, so you should just do it when you feel ready.
@Carl Holmes,
In our modern economy, I’m not sure that having children is ever a “good economics decision.” It’s not like most people need extra farmhands or apprentice carpenters.

It is easy to be short sighted with such decisions. Is the economy likely to remain down for the next 18 years? If the economy was strong, would there likely be no down times in the next 18 years? Even by the time a nine month pregnancy transpires much could look different than it does now, and the biggest expenses that come with having children are mostly years away.
I agree with Derek that what we have now is not really all that bad. Employment rates are still reasonable by historic standards, and stores are still stocked with goods that people need and are able to buy.

I’m pretty new to this blog and learning more about you and and your readership.
This post and the comments were enlightening.
Always fun to hear the evangelical fine wine and coffee crew evaluate the economy.

I’m not sure who the “the evangelical fine wine and coffee crew” are. ..
back to the original post:
I’ve not any children (or partner) so thoughts of whether or not to have them based on economic forecasts have not entered my mind. However, were to ever have children in the future, I would, no doubt consider the financial implications thereof. I have a ‘planner’ type mentality. I expect that I would be the type of person who who ‘plan’ to have a family. I also expect that lifestyle/economic decisions would feature in my ‘planing’ of family.

It sounds like the Great Depression, when the birth rate dropped.

I read this article yesterday, and my first thought was that I hope that for Christians this will be a little different. We certainly need to be wise with how we spend our money, and sometimes the most wise option is to hold off on such a big decision until finances are more in order. However, I think that many of us could easily cross the “line” and choose not to begin or extend a family because of a distrust in God’s ability to provide but claim “financial wisdom” as the real reason. I know my husband and I have had many discussions about this as we are at that stage of beginning a family. If our hope is really in God over money that should influence such a decision. For some that really will mean holding off until their finances are under control, but for others, the best option will be to step out in faith and go ahead with God’s great blessing of life!

Interesting question.
The total fertility rate (TFR): The average number of births a women will have over her lifetime. A 2.1 TFR is the replacement rate.
Looking across the globe, as real per capita income increases the TFR falls. The poorest nations in Sub-Saharan Africa have TFRs of 4.5 to more than 7. South America and Central America are better off and have 2.1 to 2.6 range. All of Europe and Russia is well below the replacement rate with most nations at a suicidal 1.1 to 1.5. France, Britain and Scandinavian countries are higher at 1.8 to 1.9. China is at 1.77 but only through draconian social policies. The U. S. has the highest TFR of developed nations at 2.05.
The U. S. TFR sank to 1.76 in the late 1970s and was similar to European levels. But in the 1980s a divergence began. European rates continued steadily downward. By 1985 the rate rose to 1.85 and then to 1.92 by decade end. During the 1990s the rate rose to its present level just above 2.0. So why the divergence?
Ben Wattenberg in ?Fewer: How the New Demography of Depopulation Will Shape our Future,? suggests that ownership of a standalone single family dwellings may be the driving force. Furthermore, relatively cheap fuel that permits you to own the vehicles you need to haul multiple children everywhere is a distinctive American feature. Wattenberg sees a close relationship between homeownership (which clearly is directly related to the economy) and TFR. Homeownership boomed through the 1980s until the past year.
The slide in TFR for France, England, and Scandinavian countries has halted in recent years. One theory is that improvements in women?s work opportunities is also being matched with more childcare services and increased involvement of fathers in daily chores, making women more inclined to have more children. Too early to tell if this actually the case.
For years demographers have assumed that many years of decline in death rates accompanied by the lagging decline in birth rates would eventually bottom out to an equilibrium at replacement rates in nations around the world. Yet as nation after nation sees the death rate become more stable, the birth rates are plummeting right through the replacement rate into rates of depopulation. Barring significant new developments, Wattenberg sees global depopulation setting in about mid-century.
It will be interesting see if recent changes in U. S. home ownership and fuel prices have.

I left out a key point in #12. U. S. ownership rates of stand alone homes is well above that for other developed nations.

This discussion makes me want to watch Children of Men again.

“makes me want to watch Children of Men”
LOL

I absolutely believe this. I think that people are hurting everywhere and are making drastic changes and are facing major crises.