Forget the bib, I need catnip

Are men becoming obsessed with cats at the expense of making babies?

Are cats the new babies? IKEA’s latest video advertisement spotlighting a horde of mousers frolicking in their London store seems to play at this very real idea.

The signs are there, animals, as life companions, seem to be a trending idea, especially among men. Apparently, women have sinuous rivals to deal with now.

So, why cats and not dogs? Well that’s easy — dogs, like babies, are high maintenance. Cute cats are also easier to find than dogs. Like blondes, it’s easy for felines to squint or turn your head on the side to set those cute signals off.

Don’t get me wrong — I love dogs (and brunettes).

I had one earlier this year (a dog, not a brunette) until I had to give him up to focus on my budding career in journalism. I miss him, but he’s probably happier now. I gave my three-month-old Catahoula puppy to a family down the street from my parent’s house in Houston.

It was during spring break in San Antonio, when our lives became one. He was a gift from my older brother, who rescued a litter of six puppies from the murky streets of San Antonio. In our first 30 minutes together in my car, an incredible surge of motherhood struck me.

“If anyone were to kill my dog, I’m pretty sure I would obliterate their entire family,” was my only thought during my drive to Houston.

I thought our time together would be everlasting, but reality soon caught up to me, alongside graduation in May.

Census data from 2008 shows children of the baby boomer generation having fewer kids than their parents, or simply not reproducing at all. Birthrates in 2009 dropped to 13.5 from 14.3 births per 1,000 people in 2007.

IKEA’s kitty campaign includes a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the video. Cats are shown fighting in the aisles. One gets stuck between display walls. All of these cats are lovable, but the real heartbreaker is the ending scene of a kitten tucked in a chic IKEA bed.

Watch out Junior, I hear felines are hot for milk!

The spot that started the debate:

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income analysis

Texas families need to make this much money for one parent to stay home

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

With costs to raise a child soaring over $20,000 a year in Texas, some households might decide to have one parent work while the other stays at home to raise their child.

As the cost of raising a child balloons in major cities like Houston, many families are weighing the choice between paying for child care or having one parent stay home full-time.

A recent analysis from SmartAsset determined the minimum income one parent needs to earn to support their partner staying at home to raise one child in all 50 states. In Texas — not just Houston — that amount is just under $75,000.

The study used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the annual living wages needed for a household with two working adults and one child, and a household with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. The study also calculated how much it would cost to raise a child with two working parents based on factors such as "food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes and other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent would need to earn $74,734 a year to support a stay-at-home partner and a child, the report found. If two parents worked in the household, necessitating some additional costs like childcare and transportation, it would require an additional $10,504 in annual income to raise their child.

SmartAsset said the cost to raise a child in Texas in a two-working-parent household adds up to $23,587. Raising a child in Houston, however, is somewhat more affordable. A separate SmartAsset study from June 2025 determined it costs $21,868 to raise a child in the Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro.

In the report's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child, Texas ranked 32nd on the list.

In other states like Massachusetts, where raising a child can cost more than $40,000 a year, the report acknowledges ways families are working to reduce any financial burdens.

"This often includes considerations around who’s going to work in the household, and whether young children will require paid daycare services while parents are occupied," the report said. "With tradeoffs abound, many parents might seek to understand the minimum income needed to keep the family afloat while allowing the other parent to stay home to raise a young child."

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income threshold to support a three-person family on one income are:

West Virginia – $68,099
Arkansas – $68,141
Mississippi – $70,242
Kentucky – $70,408
North Dakota – $70,949
Oklahoma – $71,718
Ohio – $72,114
South Dakota – $72,218
Alabama – $72,238
Nebraska – $72,966

texas income smartasset family