Do you really need combined income of $11,400 to raise a child?

Nope.

My and my wife’s combined incomes don’t hit $11,400 but we are raising a child just fine.

Relatives and friends have been really generous with passing us clothes, toys and books, so that cuts down our expenditure a lot. I have only bought one toy for my son so far. No kidding.

Wife works, so she gets working mother relief, which decreases the monthly fees we pay to Sparkletots

i don’t know my wife’s strategy but she gets the most value-for-money diapers.

anyway, babies and toddlers don’t need a lot, just your unconditional attention and presence. My toddler son can spend half an hour just admiring public buses! That’s zero cost on entertainment. Or we let him play at one of the many playgrounds near our house. This means you go several years to hustle to level up your income (Plan A), haha

and if we teach our children to be a money genius, maybe they will learn how to fend for themselves. Cue this article aka my Plan B: https://seedly.sg/opinions/4-ways-i-introduce-m...

don‘t stress too much. Life has a funny way of working itself out

I think you need more. The child did not ask to be brought into this world and if people decide to have children, they should be prepared to support the child financially as much as possible such that the potential of the child can be fully realized or at least maximised.

Lower income families tend to produce underachieving children. This is a reality we have to accept. Of course there are always outliers but that is as good as asking people to quit their jobs and be the next bill gates.