It’s no secret that it’s expensive to raise kids. A middle-income, two-parent family can expect to spend $226,920 raising a child to age 18, up 2% from 2009, one of the smallest increases in the last decade, according to USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. A family earning less than $57,600 per year is expected to spend a total of $163,440 to see a child through age 18. Families with incomes over $99,730 are expected to spend $377,040.
It costs the most to raise a child in the Northeast and West, followed by the Midwest, South, and in rural areas. Most of the regional differences stem from housing, childcare, and education expenses.
Only direct parental costs are included; college costs and expenses after age 17 aren’t included. Expenditures on children by people outside the household and by the government are also excluded, as are indirect costs to parents such as time, foregone earnings, and lost career opportunities.
Source: “Expenditures on Children by Family,” by Mark Lino, USDA, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, 3101 Park Center Dr., #1034, Alexandria, VA 22302; 703-305-7600; info@cnpp.usda.gov; www.cnpp.usda.gov.
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