Fewer middle-class people are having babies. It’s a topic of much discussion these days, causing worries everywhere from conservative talk shows to government think tanks. One of the main reasons–which seems to go largely unspoken– is discussed here at MSNBC.

Despite all those $200 sneakers you hear about and the long lines at Starbucks, consumers are actually spending less of their income — much less — on discretionary items like clothing, entertainment and food than their parents did. In fact, after taking care of essentials like housing and health care, today’s middle class has about half as much spending money as their parents did in the early 1970s, Warren says.

The basics, according to Warren, now take up close to three-fourths of every family’s spending power (it was about 50 percent in 1973), leaving precious little left over at the end of the month — and leaving many families with no cushion in case of a job loss or health crisis.

That may explain–in part–why my parents were able to have four kids on one income, while many others in this present day have to struggle with half as many children on twice as many paychecks.

Over at Blog Her, Rita Arens shares her story.

I have an (I’ve been told) unrealistic expectation for stability in my life. I dream that there will be a time when I won’t worry about money. I thought that was what being an adult, particularly a parent, was all about: You trade your wild spontaneity and dining-out dollars for security, company and being able to go to Target without wanting to vomit. I thought being in a two-income relationship would protect me from the financial worries I know affect many stay-at-home-moms.

Meanwhile here in Tennessee, four-timer parent Katie Allison Granju also weighs in on the issue.

Life is good…and expensive. After several years of worrying about money every single day, getting remarried and sticking with my job for a few years has made me less worried about the utility bill, but it’s easy to see how we could get sucked down a spending/debt hole. Buying the new car was a huge leap - I hate making a big car payment. And we both still have student loans. And this year, we discovered the hard way that my health insurance is terrible; in addition to the monthly premiums of about $300 a month, our out-of-pocket medical expenses (two minor surgical procedures in the family, c-section, maternity care, etc) will be around $6,000 (!!!!).

So what have I learned in the past few years of hardcore money reality? That I’d rather spend money on doing than on having.

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I’ve also learned, however, that earning a good living is important. I wish I had made earning money a bigger priority when I was planning out my career path (quitting law school two years in and 30K in student debt probably wasn’t a very good choice); I am playing major catch up now. I intend to explain to my children that it’s important to enjoy what they do to earn money - very important - but they also need to be realistic about what kind of money they will need to earn to compose the lives they want.