Can you really afford to have children? How many of you thought about this before having little ones? Does your financial status determine the number of children you will have?
According to the USDA report the cost of raising a child in today’s time is a whopping $245,340. This is to see the baby to adulthood (18 years old).
What the what! Who has that much money per child just sitting in a bank account?
This costs includes food, childcare, education, transportation, clothing, and shelter as the main ingredients. The dollar amount based on middle-class families varies dependent on where you live in the United States and how many children you have. The dollar figure actually goes down per child once you have 3 or more children because kids will share toys, wear their siblings old clothes, or even share a bedroom and bathroom.
This all sounds very educational and gives great data, yet how many of you can right now today see this much money your bank account? Have more than one child and get to multiplying that more than $200,000 figure. Thank goodness childbearing is not based on calculating with a number like this. There would probably be way less children born each year if we had to have this money on hand before having children.
So, how do you determine if you can “afford” children? Money is important yes. However, so is love and family commitment. Each family has to look at their individual needs, lifestyle, and willingness to sacrifice for the good of their babies. Cost can vary greatly -nursing versus formula, private school versus public, or state university versus private college. So many variables come into play, right down to where you will purchase the child’s clothes, where you will live, or something as simple as will you cook in or eat out many nights.
This report has been around since the 1960’s and I’m sure my parents didn’t know about it. Nor did I when my children were born. We thank the USDA for their full report as it sheds light and gives meaningful data. However, we know that families across the United States will continue to make babies as it best suits their family structure.
The USDA full 39 page report can be seen at https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/CRC/crc2013.pdf
The USDA also provides a “Cost of Raising a Child Calculator” where you can estimate your own cost for raising your kids: https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/tools/CRC_Calculator/default.aspx
If my kids were still little the calculator estimated it would cost $30,00 per year to raise them.
BMWK family – Use the USDA calculator to estimate your expenses for raising your children; let us know your estimated cost. How much did or will money factor into you having children?