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To answer that question, one might need to examine a variety of statutes, regulations, case law decisions, and government policies.
However, such an examination would have to begin somewhere, so consider regulations that specify amounts of child support to be paid by a non-custodial parent. Does the cost per child decrease when a separated couple has more children, or do governments simply pretend that the cost per child decreases? If governments simply pretend, then what motivates them to pretend?
If the cost per child does decrease when a couple has more children, then some popular societal expectations make little sense from a business point of view. Why should every couple feel that they are supposed to have a minimum of one child while other couples are made to feel that they shouldn't have more than two children? If the cost per child decreases when a family has more children, then for there to be one nuclear family with one child and another nuclear family with two children is less cost effective than for there to be one family with no children and another family with three children.
Perhaps there is concern that if one in six nuclear families included no biological children then foster homes would be unnecessary and foster parents would lose their foster parenting gigs? Perhaps there is concern that if approximately one in six traditional families included no biological children, then it would seem perfectly normal for a married man and woman to have no biological children, creating a risk of running out of ammunition to shoot down same-sex marriage?
Should every childless couple feel that they are supposed to have at least one child while any couple that dares to produce three biological children is frowned upon for threatening the entire world with over-population, famine, and mass starvation? Is there one politically correct family size that fits all?
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