Freakonomics: Is Having Children Worth It?

DUCKWORTH: I’m Angela Duckworth. DUBNER: I’m Stephen Dubner. DUCKWORTH + DUBNER: And you’re listening to No Stupid Questions.

DUBNER: How many kids — one, two, three, 15, 25. How about zero? DUCKWORTH: Stephen, I’m going to read you an email from a listener whose first name is Iain. Are you ready for it? DUBNER: I am. And hello, Iain. DUCKWORTH: Iain writes: “Before we married, my wife and I easily decided we want to have kids — whether by birth or adoption. The much more difficult decision was how many kids to have. She was an only child. I had siblings. Both of us work, and we’re not gung-ho about being full-time stay-at-home parents, which the pandemic forced upon us anyways, at least for a short time. Gone are the days of needing to create workers for the family farm. And at least in many countries, there’s a relatively high likelihood that each child would make it to adulthood. I imagine there’s a very complex algorithm that shapes what the answer is to: how many? Do you have any insights on this? Gracias, Ian.” Oh, wait, Stephen, I just have to read you the P.S.: “We have one daughter, almost 3, and are working on a second — and ideally last — child.”