Annie Lowrey discussed the research on marriage and poverty in the New York Times magazine on Sunday. Now, my turn.

Being unmarried doesn’t make anybody poor. Being unmarried and having children makes people poor. Being unmarried, with no family supports, a bad education, living in an area with no jobs and having children makes people poor.

So, if you aren’t dating an ambitious, smart man, don’t live in an area with employment options, aren’t supported by middle class parents, and don’t have a college BA, DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN.

The issue isn’t marriage. It’s children. They are extremely expensive. There are no social supports to help you care for them and work at the same time. They require tons and tons of energy, which will mean that you won’t have to time to take classes at the community college or apply for that managerial job at the department store. Every cent that you’ll earn will go to pre-schools and daycare and you won’t be able to invest money in a home or 401K plan.

Schools are closed for the fourth time this month for snow. Everybody else has to go to jobs. What is happening to all those mothers who can’t go to work for the fourth day this month? Many won’t get paid. Others will get fired.

Don’t have children.

Why does marriage help people get out of poverty? Because if you have kids, then you can trade off time watching them. Also, it is cheaper to live together and share expenses for heating and rent. Of course, marriage doesn’t help you, if all the guys that you know are assholes. So, it really makes more sense to start encouraging other group living arrangements — communal housing, family compounds, senior dorms, whatever. Living on your own is terribly inefficient.

So, there. I just solved the problem of poverty. Don’t have kids. Live in communes.