Nuclear reaction to house prices

Spoilt, lonely, selfish ... the only child is a figure much pitied and criticised. When parents are weighing up the decision to have a second child, the spectre of the demanding, self-absorbed and sad only child is hovering above the bed.

For Sydneysiders, the decision to have a second child is more fraught than ever in these straitened real estate times. The problem for many couples is: Where do they put a second child? Like so much else about life in Sydney – homelessness, debt, ageing – it all comes back to exorbitant housing prices.

In this city, a second child can change your life more profoundly than a first. A second child can mean exile. Goodbye inner city, goodbye urban lifestyle. Hello far suburbia.      Full Read