Well, kids, next time you say your parents don’t give you much, you just may need to recalculate. The cost of raising kids continue to increase and that was evident by the 1.8 percent increase witnessed in 2013 from 2012. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released an annual report on the costs of raising a child. Most parents are expected to pay $245,340 per child, from the time of birth to the age of 18. That’s right, not including college expenses or inflation.
The Consumer Expenditures Survey tallied a middle-income family comprising of two parents, can expect to spending anywhere from $12,800 up to $14,970 annually for their child.
For a family raising five children, that basically makes parents millionaires, or just poor ones. These costs include items for education (seen these elementary school lists?!), housing, food naturally and other expenses in association with children. The report shows exactly how the basis of expenditures have risen considerably over the years.
50 years ago, a middle-income family could expect to spend no more than $25,230 on their child from birth to the age of 18. That has drastically changed - even on the low end, a parent can expect to spend $176,500 on their child.
Of course the report indicates with more children less can be spent overall on expenses. Children can share clothing and other items like splitting a meal. For some families, any savings is a dream away.
Tara Caroll from Lakewood, Ohio has five children, their ages? Two boys: 5 and 10 years-old, three girls: twins 3-years-old and a 17-year-old niece.
“Sharing is not really something we can do in my house. For my twins we have to buy naturally two of everything. And, before anyone judges us; my sister died and we adopted her two sons and their older sister. Circumstances can change, and what was once a family of four has escalated to a family of seven.”
The cost of raising a child has increased, including health care costs to manage preventive care, vaccinations and other medical emergencies.
Do the numbers create some hesitation for you when considering having or expanding a family?
