Wow. In a report recently released by the US Department of Agriculture, the average middle-income American family will pay almost a quarter of a million dollars to raise a child (not including college expenses). A family that earns more than $100K a year pays over $150K more than the middle income family. In this article at THE WEEK, they break down the amount into categories (food, child care, etc.). I was most interested in how much the numbers had changed from 1960.
- Total amount is 23% higher in 2011 than it was in 1960.
- In 1960 only 2% of the total was used for child care and education. In 2011 that number is 18%.
I wonder if the cost goes down per child if you are raising more than one child at a time. I wonder if some folks who decide not to have children will cite this as a reason (with numbers to prove their case). And, of course, I wonder how many parents don’t really care how much it costs because the intangible benefits are so valuable!