$234900: Cost of child-raising in US

By Katrina Jones Jun 15th, 2012 ( No Comment )

Washington: US parents from now on can expect to spend more than a quarter million dollars in child-raising, according to a government report.

A middle-class family with a child born in 2011 can expect to spend about $234,900 in the next 17 years on food, shelter and other necessities, college doesn’t include in the list, Reuters reported.

The cost comes to about $295,560 with projected inflation factored in, and represents a 3.5 percent jump from the cost outlook in 2010, the US Department of Agriculture said in its report.

The annual report, developed by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and based on data from the US Consumer Expenditure Survey, said expenses for transportation, child care, education, food, housing, clothing, healthcare and other expenses all were rising.

The report said geographic variations in the cost of raising a child, with expenses the highest for families living in the urban Northeast, followed by the urban West and urban Midwest. Families living in the urban South and rural areas have the lowest child-rearing expenses, the USDA said.

Parents who earn more typically spend more on their children, the government report said. A family earning less than $59,410 per year can expect to spend a total of $169,080 on a child from birth through high school, while parents with an income between $59,410 and $102,870 can expect to spend $234,900; and a family earning more than $102,870 can expect to spend $389,670, the USDA said.

For 2011 alone, annual child-rearing expenses per child for a middle-income, two-parent family ranged from $12,290 to $14,320, depending on the age of the child.