Average, middle-income families are now looking at a child raising cost of just over 245 thousand dollars.
Average, middle-income families are now looking at a child raising cost of just over 245 thousand dollars.
The figure is provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture, which releases such calculations regularly.
It covers essentials like food and healthcare and a few extras including cell phones and haircuts.
As the estimate spans from birth to the age of 17, what it doesn’t factor in are the expenses that arise during pregnancy and delivery. College tuition isn’t part of the sum either.
Despite the fact that median incomes are still down 8 percent from their pre-recession numbers, many essential expenses have increased.
Food costs 13 percent more than it did in 2008. Gas prices have nearly doubled since 2004.
Families that depend on daycare face monthly expenditures that are often near what they pay in rent or a mortgage.
Location and income levels also influence the child rearing cost and sometimes do so significantly.
Upper bracket families living in the urban areas of the Northeast can expect to spend over 450 thousand dollars.
Lower income households in rural parts of the US will pay out just above 145 thousand.
