Excellent points.   My wife's first marriage had that situation: hurting for income but day care was wiping out her income And time with watching children who were too young to function in an adult world.   

Agree with the 'need' for material things, we dropped cable tv 2 years ago.  Problem is, our phones are becoming a common tool in standard transactions.  If you can't keep up with tech, your job potential is damaged.  Just internet access cost us 89.00 /month from Comcast-No content.  Internet is a foundation now for public life