ABSTRACT
Having children costs money-a lot of money. Having a child portends (for the mother, at least) a considerable loss of income and simultaneously a considerable growth of family expenditure. Unlike in times past, a child is a consumer pure and simple-it won’t contribute to the family income. The charity Daycare Trust calculates that the average price of a nursery place in Britain for a child under 2 grew by the end of 2002 to £134 per week, as against the average British family income of £562 per week (Carvel, 2004). Hundreds of thousands of families are already condemned to the life of poverty. Hundreds of thousands more watch their plight and take note.
