The problem is that people's idea of "surviving" has changed. My wife didn't work when we were bringing up children so we had to make sacrifices. Few foreign holidays, nights out etc. Now just "surviving" means 3 foreign holidays a year, 2 mobile phones, streaming tv and sky sports, 2-3 nights out a week, new leased BMW every 3 years. No wonder people can't "afford" to have children.