"Living Within Your Means"

The Devil, in another delightful attack on Toynbee, raises a key gripe of mine:

My first job, way back in 1997, paid me just over £12,000 (a little higher than the minimum wage, but not for long). It wasn't a fortune, but I was hardly destitute. I was, however, aware that I couldn't afford to have a family—even were I able to find someone stupid enough to bear my spawn. It's called "living within your means", Polly.

Watchdog this week featured a family that was complaining about the health and safety standard of a house the local council had provided for them:

Louise and Tony Shoulder moved into their two-bedroom council flat in Greenwich, south-east London, 11 years ago. But, three children later, the flat became very cramped. So, in 2007, they were put onto the council's priority list for somewhere more suitable.

And now they're expecting a fourth. Explain to me, then, how the situation they have found themselves in is not their own fault. Or is the only way to 'move up' - if that's the right term here - the housing ladder is to reproduce?