It can be done now, you just have to adjust your standard of living to whatever level of income you bring in.
SG
That is another issue I have. People who have 1 million dollar mortgages in Toorak (like my coworkers) are complaining that THEY can't afford to raise kids and need the maternity leave payouts/baby bonus. Right. Why don't you sell your expensive house and get a cheaper one? You don't NEED to have a giant house. That way you might actually have some money left over and might even be able to afford more things, like, um, child care?
Also GC, not all people who match incomes are earning less part time. I have a friend who works part time on Mon/Wed/Fri and her husband works the other days, and any day they both work they chuck kidlet in childcare. As my friend is more qualified she actually earns more than the husband, and they both are working part time for another month or so until kid is more active and can do things like feed itself, etc. She is a teacher and he is an apprentice electrician. So at the moment she wins on the salary bit....
And regarding the domestic issues. Again, if you have a 1 million dollar house then im sure you can afford a cleaner....those who dont then the obvious thing is to split the workload so you do half each. Dont just say men wont do it, when im sure if you asked and explained the reason for it then they would go for it....
