Is it important to be financially prepared for becoming a parent? How do you know if the time is right?
Poornima Kavlekar
How important is it to be financially prepared before you have a baby? When I asked this question to my friend, who had her first baby 10 years back, she said that these are emotional decisions and not linked to finances. When they decided to have a baby, they didn’t think much about how prepared they were monetarily. Most of us in India think along these lines. So did I, to a certain extent. While I always knew that I would be giving up my job when I had my baby, sacrificing a full- time career as a journalist and, therefore, moving from a double to a single income, wasn’t an easy process. My husband and I took a few important steps in preparation for parenthood though, which I will discuss a little later.
But, just before I sat to write this story, I chatted with a set of working women in their late 20s and early 30s, married for a few years now and fitting the profile of “time-to-have-a-baby -soon” category, to understand their take on this. And I got a different perspective. Most of them felt that they were financially ill-prepared and were unsure about their ability to support a child and other related expenses. In other words, today’s women are financially more aware, but as a consequence caught in a dilemma. “I am not sure if a single income will suffice under the circumstances as I will have to give up my job for at least a while,” was a common response.
