According to the Washington Associated Press:
A child born in 2013 will cost a
middle-income American family an average of $245,340 until he or she
reaches the age of 18, with families living in the Northeast taking on a
greater burden, according to a report out Monday. And that doesn't
include college — or expenses if a child lives at home after age 17.
Those
costs that are included — food, housing, childcare and education — rose
1.8 percent over the previous year, the Agriculture Department's new
"Expenditures on Children and Families" report said. As in the past,
families in the urban Northeast will spend more than families in the
urban South and rural parts of the U.S., or roughly $282,480.
I find this report completely ridiculous. First off these numbers include housing and I can tell you right now that a lot of people who don't even have children have homes and most of those homes have more than one bedroom in them. To be fair I think that housing should not be included in these figures because families with and without children all have to have homes and the size of the homes seems consistent with peoples personalities and not the size of their family.
Second, more and more families are becoming extremely frugal. This means that clothing can cost a lot but there have never been more thrift stores available than there are today and most children aren't made fun of for wearing thrift store purchase instead savvy mom are creating children who are excited to show their awesome thrift store finds to their friends.
Third, childcare is an expense that a lot of families bear, but a lot of families don't pay for child care. Having children might mean child care expenses, but that is usually a personal decision. I think that these expenses shouldn't automatically be included in the cost of raising a child because a family can choose not to pay for childcare expenses. I think the numbers that should be included are those that are essential costs and not optional for most families.
Fourth, education does cost (sometimes a lot) but the variation in costs here would make it very difficult to tabulate.
Fifth, food is a cost but adding an additional meal to a menu of homemade food is a very small cost. Yes a person could spend a lot of money raising a child, and I know people who do, but it doesn't have to cost a lot.
It has been my experience that the majority of costs are transportation (vehicles and gasoline) and insurance. With increasing government laws more children means larger cars and additional insurance.
Before we get too set on the numbers provided by the Associated Press I think we need to look at our own personal preferences and decide what having a child will cost to us based on our personalities and personal choices.
