Having a child is a big decision for a couple, and according to a new report from the Brookings Institution, it darn well better be.
Thanks to, you guessed it, inflation, the new average cost for a middle-income couple with two children to raise their youngest from the time it’s born until you send it packing after high school is a cool $310,605.
You’re correct if you think that sounds high; it was roughly $233K in 2017. Brookings said you could thank inflation for the sharp increase.
Here’s a quote Isabel Sawhill of Brookings gave CNN.
“It causes people to recognize that when you start having a family or when you increase the size of your family, you’re going to have to make some tradeoffs with other items in your budget.”
A couple will spend the most on housing, which accounts for about 33% of the total. Food is the second most costly item in raising a child, which makes sense because, as a parent, you are responsible for roughly 19,710 meals for your son or daughter. It doesn’t help when grocery prices have gone up 13% in a year, which just happened.
If you have access to a time machine in good working order, propel yourself back to 1980. It only cost $69,232 to raise a child from birth to high school graduation.
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