A quiet place to think it through

Should you have a child?

This won't answer that for you, and it won't hand you a regret percentage — no honest tool can predict how a life turns out. It does two real things: it works out what a child would actually cost you, in money you enter, and it lays your own answers about the rest back out so the trade-off is visible instead of looping in your head.

Part 1

The money — this part is real arithmetic

No life-trajectory modelling, no predictions. Just the two financial questions that actually have numeric answers: the early-years cash squeeze, and the long-run cost against what that money would otherwise grow to.

Savings you could draw on $20,000

Accessible cash — not locked retirement accounts.

$0$200k+

Combined monthly take-home now $6,000

After tax, both partners if applicable. Today's number, before any child.

$1k$25k

Current monthly expenses $3,800

Everything you spend now, before a child. The real number, not the optimistic one.

$500$20k

Added monthly cost of a child $1,400

Childcare is usually the biggest line. Look up local daycare rates rather than guessing low — this is the number people most underestimate.

$300$4k

Monthly income you'd lose to caregiving $1,000

Reduced hours, a pause, slower progression — for whoever takes that on. Zero is allowed; underestimating it is the common mistake.

$0$8k

Years to look ahead

For the long-run comparison. 18 is a common reference; the cost is roughly steady-state, not the same every year, so read it as a scale, not a prophecy.

Part 2

Everything money can't answer — your read, not a score

These do not get turned into a percentage, a regret index, or a recommendation. They get reflected back so you can see the shape of your own thinking. The decision underneath them is yours and isn't a math problem.

How much do you actually want this? 5

Your own pull toward it — not what's expected of you.

Not reallyDeeply

Where you and a partner stand 5

If there's no partner in the picture, set this to where you'd want it to be and note that to yourself.

Real mismatchFully aligned

Practical support around you 5

Family nearby, community, help you could actually call on — not in theory.

Largely on our ownStrong support

How much you value your current freedom 5

Time, autonomy, the shape of your days. Neither answer is the right one.

Glad to trade itI value it highly

Monthly surplus today Income minus expenses, before a child

Monthly surplus with a child After added cost and lost caregiving income

If surplus goes negative — runway How long savings absorb the monthly shortfall

Total added cost over the years entered (Added cost + lost income) across the horizon

What that sum would otherwise become Same money invested instead, ~5%/yr — an illustration, not a forecast

Why it landed here — traceable to the numbers you entered

Your own answers, reflected back — not scored

Going deeper

How to actually think about the cost of a child — what the cash-flow numbers actually contain
You've got your numbers — now what — what the math can't decide for you

This tool does real cost arithmetic and organizes your own reflection. It is not financial, medical, fertility, or psychological advice, and the Part 2 sliders are your own judgement reflected back, not a measurement or a prediction. Whether to have a child is one of the few decisions a tool genuinely cannot make for you. Talking it through with a partner, someone you trust, or a counsellor is worth more than any calculator.