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In comments, Amy Elliott, one of the mothers under 30 profiled by the Post this morning, responds to some of the questions I posed in my earlier post. What she describes is a lifestyle in which having a child young has entailed serious economic challenges -- a part of the picture that the Post completely ignored, what with wondering if young moms and dads miss nights out at the Clarendon Ballroom and whatnot. Just to clarify -- I meant no offense to Amy or her lifestyle. Simply, I wish the Post had delved deeper into the economics of starting a family, because hey, inquiring minds are curious about this sociological trend. In Amy's case, it seems an early real estate investment helped a lot, as did the fact that she and her husband have been sharing the costs of a household for quite some time. Here's part of what she had to say:
My husband works for a local AV/home integration firm and makes about $40,000. My law school tuition is paid by public and private loans. My total student loan indebtedness is well over $200,000. Over the years we have received some financial help from family members, but we could have made the same choices without it. We own our 2 bed/2 bath condo in Silver Spring. We were lucky enough to profit from the DC real estate bubble on our first place: a 460 sq. ft. studio I bought with hardly any money down and a nonprofit salary of $37,000 after graduating from college and while my husband was still in school. My husband and I lived there for two years. ... . We do send Emmett to an expensive daycare, and we are able to do so partly because GW allows you to borrow money for childcare expenses. But I would rather sacrifice on housing than on daycare (which is part of the reason why we are selling).Thanks to Amy for filling in the blanks.--Dana Goldstein
