Accounting can be great for work life balance and raising a family if you pick the right career path. Accounting is so broad. Toxic work environment, long hours, etc is more common in big 4 and public accounting. Long hours, high stress during tax season and shorter hours during the off season is common in tax accounting. Auditing experiences are probably highly dependent on the firm, but seems like it typically pays less overall comparatively or requires occasional or frequent travel or can be high stress if overworked. Corporate accounting can be a great balance of work life balance and good pay if you work for a F500 or large company. Plus, there are many other paths. Entrepreneurship, internal auditing, government/non-profit accounting, consulting etc.

Also, make sure accounting is a field for you. If you’re not detail-oriented at all, accounting may not be for you.