Why having four kids is now a luxury most parents can't afford

By Venessa Wong

J.D. Vance wants Americans to have more babies. But the typical family cannot afford a 'modest yet adequate standard of living' for four children.

The annual gross income needed to support a family with two adults and four children in the Washington, D.C., area, where Vice President J.D. Vance and his family live, is about $177,600.

Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha, announced that they are expecting their fourth child in late July.

Vance, who is concerned about falling birth rates in the U.S., said at a March for Life rally last year that he wants "more babies in the United States of America." That echoed a 2019 remark: "We want babies not just because they are economically useful. We want more babies because children are good."

Yet the Vances' announcement comes as many American families struggle to afford necessities such as child care, housing and transportation.

It is rare for families in the U.S. to have more than two children. In 2023, 7% of Americans surveyed by Gallup had four children, while another 5% had five or more.

As it seeks to create a new "baby boom," the Trump administration has implemented policies including an expanded child tax credit and "Trump accounts" for children seeded with government funds. Still, "the Trump administration's family policies have been limited so far," according to the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

Read more: Can a baby bonus really make Americans have more kids? Here's what big families say.

For most households, the ongoing costs of supporting a large family remain prohibitive. The median income of a married couple with kids in 2023 was $138,000. For single mothers, the median income was $22,000, according to Census Bureau data.

Meanwhile, the annual gross income needed to cover the basic needs of a family of two adults and four children in the Washington, D.C., area, where the vice president and his family live, is about $177,600, according to the Economic Policy Institute's family budget calculator, which the left-leaning organization describes as measuring "the income a family needs in order to attain a modest yet adequate standard of living."

This figure includes housing, groceries, child care, transportation, healthcare and other necessities, as well as taxes, but it does not include saving for emergencies or retirement.

For a family with children ages 4, 8, 12 and 16, EPI estimates the annual cost of child care in the D.C. area at about $37,000, even more than the estimated $31,000 in housing expenses.

Even in the Cincinnati area, which includes J.D. Vance's hometown of Middletown, Ohio, a basic budget (not including savings) for a family of two adults and four children is about $135,000, according to EPI.

Families who don't earn enough might have to "give up on some essentials," said Elise Gould, EPI's senior economist. "You're certainly not able to invest in the future. You may not be able to get all the healthcare that you wish to get for your family." Some may rely on family members to help with child care, affecting their ability to work.

The Vance family earns well above the median income. The vice president's annual salary is $235,100, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, a right-leaning think tank. In addition, "the Executive Branch budget provides $321,000 for the Vice President's residence," including personnel, maintenance and other expenses. Usha Vance resigned from her job as an attorney in 2024 "to focus on caring for our family," she said in a statement.

MarketWatch has reached out to the vice president's office to ask how the Vance family handles the cost of child care but has not received a response.

In a social-media post, the Vances said they were grateful for "the staff members who do so much to ensure that we can serve the country while enjoying a wonderful life with our children."

Related: Here are the ideas that could really help solve America's affordability crisis in 2026

Rather than focusing narrowly on pro-natalist policies, "improving affordability is a positive, realistic focus for family policy," the American Enterprise Institute said in commentary last month.

In interviews with MarketWatch last year, parents with four or more children talked about the tradeoffs they made to support a larger-than-average family at a time when the cost of living has increased. They said they often compromise on extras like entertainment, travel, dining out and shopping. Those in dual-income households typically had flexibility at work that helped them manage their kids' schedules.

They noted that in addition to affordability considerations, having a large family is a lifestyle decision that has become uncommon today, and that while it is appealing to some, it is not for everyone.

"There are many different factors that enter into the decision to have one or more children," said EPI's Gould, adding that financially, it has become a widely accepted fact that "it's a struggle for a lot of people" now.

-Venessa Wong

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