If wage earners today are bemoaning the cost of housing, clothing, feeding and educating their children, especially at a time when post-Great Recession paychecks aren’t as great as they once were, they have good reason.
A new report says a two-parent, middle-income household can expect to pay about $245,340 to raise a child born last year up to age 18. That’s nearly 2 percent higher than the previous year. Adjusted for projected inflation, the cost is $304,480.
Depending on the age of the child, the annual cost will range from $12,800 to $14,970, the U.S. Department of Labor’s “Expenditures on Children and Families” report says.
Certain variables can alter the bottom line. The higher the household income, for example, the higher the cost because households with more money tend to spend more on their children.
On the other hand, larger families tend to have lower costs, thanks to hand-me-downs, the study says. Families with three or more children spend 22 percent less in child rearing than those with two children, the report says.
The cost of putting a roof over your child’s head is lower the urban South than in the urban Midwest and Northeast.
The cost of raising a child born in 1960 was $25,230 ($198,560 adjusted for inflation).
The study uses data from the 2005-06 Consumer Expenditure Survey, updated to 2013 dollars, and from the Consumer Price Index, the government’s measure of inflation.
If you want to know more about the findings, and you're a MyAJC.com subscriber, check out our gallery.
About the Author
