There are plenty of narrow car seats that will fit 3 across in any car. I ran 3 Diono Radians in the back seat of a second gen Prius and there was plenty of space. Car seats and cars are the least expensive part of raising young children.
Car seats are minor over the long haul, for sure, but they're often the first expense parents face. Especially, as is the focus of this article, parents of two children, who presumably already have many of the non-consumable items they need.
Car seats are just one example of a barrier.
I completely agree with the comment and I have 4 teenagers.
In fact having children has made me more acutely aware of the issue, not less. Because now I have more things I want to do, and face more barriers of both time and money that I have to trade off.
We’re debating the merits of reducing the bump while ignoring the much much bigger issues.
Because no one is setting their expectations (including child welfare agencies) on “what was practical 100 years ago”.
I think only: can I afford this? What will I need to give up to afford this? Is it worth it?
Yes but cars and driving are so holy to people. While the effect discovered was small, it seems subjectively true to me that people spend way more time thinking about car and car shit than they ought to.