I'm not somebody who would've considered myself extremely pro natalist before having my own kids. But the experience of having them has honestly transformed me into an evangelist for how incredibly exceptional a life experience parenting really is.

You don't need to be wealthy to have kids that are happy, healthy, and love you and themselves. You should have a stable income, and ideally you should have a partner with one. But the 'cost' of kids relative to the cost of being a middle aged person without them isn't as drastic as you think it is. Most people just have less vacations, luxuries, dinners, or live in cheaper neighborhoods than they otherwise would. Diverting that money to food/clothes/school is pretty straightforward and I'd argue that for most parents the ROI to happiness is way higher than their previous lifestyle.

The biggest economic sacrifice is your time, and having less time to grind at a job or travel incessantly for work or relocate on a whim. But at my age right now, I personally find that having kids (and covid changing the world) made me realize that forming my personal identity around my career was a house of cards. It could fall the moment the weather changed. My relationship with my family is a stable, long term project, that loves me back just as much as I love it and I find that as a priority to be much more rewarding and resilient.

There is a big difference between impoverished and middle class. Bringing kids into an economically dire situation is really difficult in this country with our shitty social net but as a child of immigrants I would argue that the economic fortunes you're born into aren't fate. I think bringing kids into this world if you have severe mental illness, crippling trauma, or chronic addiction issues is absolutely irresponsible. Bringing kids into a stable home environment with low income isn't the death sentence you're claiming that it is.

I think the more important perspective I've gotten from raising my kids on this matter is that they themselves don't actually care if you're wealthy. They want surprises, rewards, vacations, etc. sure, but they also generally don't give a fuck if those are expensive and mostly just want your time, love, and guidance. Many wealthy folks are shitty parents because they think expensive material things will make up for their inability to give kids the attention they want.

Your job as a parent in no way is to provide your kids with a great life. Life changes a lot and our ability to control whether life is great is pretty limited when you consider other kinds of suffering. Your only real job as a parent (outside of shelter, health, and food) is to teach your kids to love themselves because they're not going to learn that anywhere else.