Having a Baby is EXPENSIVE! It Costs $272,049 to Raise a Child

Having a Baby is EXPENSIVE!

Is it just me or does it seem like everyone’s popping out a kid these days?

I get it, we just came out of a pandemic and there wasn’t much to do, but that’s one EXPENSIVE product to produce 😂

Raising a child can be rewarding emotionally but very costly financially. 

I don’t know about you, but the financial burdens of having a child you cannot afford to raise outweigh the “emotional rewards” of having a child…

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average cost of raising a child to age 18 was $233,610 as of 2015.

With an annual adjustment for inflation of 2.2% each year factored in, the lifetime cost of raising a child born in 2022 could be estimated at $272,049.

The worst part?

These numbers don’t include the additional cost of sending a child to college. 

I REPEAT, these numbers do NOT include college expenses and tuition if you plan on supporting your child and giving them a “debt-free,” life.

The largest expense associated with raising children is housing. Due to mortgage or rent payments, taxes, insurance, repairs, utilities, maintenance and basic household goods, these expenses easily make up a large portion of parents’ budgets.

According to Consumer Expenditures Data for 2020, the typical household spends a mean of $21,409.19 on housing per year. The Census Bureau data shows that the median household income in the U.S. was $67,521 in 2020.

According to this data, families with children are spending roughly 32% of their income on housing.

These numbers offer a broad idea of how much families pay for housing. But it’s important to keep in mind that housing costs can vary based on a number of factors, including:

• Geographic area
• Type of dwelling (i.e. single-family home, townhouse, etc.)
• Whether the family rents or owns their home
• Size of the home as it corresponds to family size (i.e. number of bedrooms required based on the number of children and adults)
• Age of the home

After housing, food tends to be a major cost for families who are raising one or more children. In terms of what a typical family might spend on food, the amount can vary based on the number of children in the home, household income, geographic region, and preferred diet.

While some of these costs can be deemed as “wants” more than “needs,” it’s important to take into account your own vision and expectations of the family you hope to raise.