To wonder how on earth some people afford loads of children?

[NintendoSwitch]

When they have a seemingly average earning job?

I know 3 people with very large families: two have six children and one family has eight and is TTC baby number 9!

All of these families seem to have a good standard of living, eg they go on foreign holidays each year, the kids are all dressed in good brands such as Boden, the mums have expensive clothes and don't skimp on hair appointments or beauty treatments, the dads have expensive hobbies, they have nice houses, the kids do plenty of activities, etc.

Of these three couples, one dad works as a car salesman and the mum is a SAHM. Another dad works in a factory and the mum very very part time as a cleaner. And the third family the dad works in a gym and the mum is a SAHM.

I'm just wondering how the hell people manage to afford so many children! We stopped at two because there is no way we could have afforded more and still have a reasonable lifestyle, yet people seem to have lots of kids, average paying jobs and fantastic lifestyles!

Am I missing a trick here?

I know someone who bought a 250k house, brand new Range Rover and her three DC are always dressed in designer gear. Her DH works for the local water company so hardly mega bucks, she sells this juice plus crap on social media and told me that’s mostly how she afforded it all... no idea if it’s true. Appreciate three DC doesn’t class as a large family but some ‘SAHM’s’ have a work from home business like that.

Sometimes it’s inheritance money, compensation money or plainly debt.

Tax credits before the 2 child limit made it manageable for lower income families to have lots of kids. I know someone with 9 children and has said their tax credits is the same as her husbands salary (he’s a mechanic, she’s a sahm) then you’ve got child benefit on top of that. Means they are able to live comfortably and similar to couples with the same job/situation who have 1 or 2 kids.

Is this thread a sneaky advert for Boden?

Wease, that amount is nuts! No wonder some people are able to afford so many kids!

The SAHM could also be running a business like a website, or writing novels. Or they could b lottery winners who have chosen to live relatively modestly to avoid begging letters

They don't. They expect (and know they'll receive) handouts.

Not only how do they afford but how do they cope and why do they want so many children? Yet some do and enjoy it. Good luck to them if they can manage.

My late mother in law had a GP with eleven children, I also knew one with eight. They seemed to like their family life well enough.

Can't imagine me doing it but each to their own.