> To make them not expensive, you have to avoid a lot of things that most people consider a normal, middle-class part of a regular lifestyle or a middle-class way of raising children.
Well, you can make the middle-class lifestyle affordable.
It's not Disney vacations that make people give-up on childbirth. It's housing and schooling.
>>marcos+(OP)
I 100% agree. Though even if those things were more reasonably priced, they would still be more expensive for people with kids. You do need some more space with kids to maintain the same standard of living, and most people prefer easier access to green space (yard and/or close by parks) when they have kids.
That's why huge subsidies to reach financial parity are probably necessary.