That's right, you read that correctly. "Middle-income families can expect to spend $204,060 on feeding, housing and schooling a child born in 2007 until his or her 18th birthday, the U.S. government reported on Monday." This number includes child care and education (NOT COLLEGE EDUCATION), transportation, health care, and food.
The study finds that as children get older they tend to get more expensive, with adolescents being the most expensive. We have to realize though, that this number takes into account the necessities and does NOT include things like college education (which is After the 18th birthday so it's understandable) and it does NOT take into account the kids that seem to become more and more materialistic.
The average is about 11, 336 dollars per year on a child until their eighteenth birthday I would love to know how high that number gets during the teen years when they just absolutely NEED to have the brand name clothes and the latest electronics...As we become more and more materialistic, that number is bound to grow, and as future parents (or current parents) we have a responsibility to guide our children on a path that is not all about material goods. Our kids future decisions about what's important to them doesn't only affect the type of people that they become but it could affect our wallet.
Taking care of our children is important, but giving them luxuries that people only dream of even existing is going overboard in terms of raising our future and in terms of our wallet.
Think about it. Grow. Learn. Progress towards a better future.
*here's a link to that article
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080324/lf_nm_life/usa_children_dc
* and check out my other blogs. 
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/arhipgeo86
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I can't believe the number is that high. I'm definitely not spending that much on my kids. There's a difference between providing for them and SPOILING them.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
But camps and lessons and child care add up quickly!
In my case, my partner and I will spend half that just on conception or adoption and the legal fees for our attempts to protect the family. We're not having any until we can afford it.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I can... Just think about it.
Say you pay $800 in rent for a family of 4, with two kids. That works out to about $200 a month on each child. Over the course of a year, that's already $2400. But an $800 place large enough for a family that size is pretty rare, depending on where you live. My mom pays something like $1100 on mortgage each month, including insurance and everything. She has two kids still living at home, plus her, so that works out to almost $400 each month, per person. That's half the amount they were quoting per year. This isn't really a good one, since you'd be paying money for rent whether you had kids or not, but people often have to move into a bigger place once they have kids, and those bigger places cost more money.
Childcare is extremely expensive... I've heard it's so expensive that it's not really worth it for some mothers (or fathers, but more mothers) to work, because her entire paycheck would go for childcare. My mom spent like $200 PER WEEK on my little sisters when they were in daycare. That works out to roughly $10,400 per year for two kids, so about $5200 per kid, which is half the amount they quoted each year.
My little sisters are also going through their growing phase, where they need new clothes every few months. Since they're required to have certain types of pants and shirts for their school uniforms, that can add up as well, even when my mom gets most of it on sale.
Food is another thing. If they don't bring their lunch to school every day, that can add up pretty fast. I think it's like $2.50 for a school lunch for them, which is pretty good as far as lunches go, but it can also add up fast.
Then there's the things that aren't really spoiling them, but helping them build character. One of my sisters, for instance, is playing soccer right now. That costs money. Plus there's driving to school functions, car insurance when they can finally drive (which is really bad for boys), and even giving them a crap car to drive around will cost money. Buying a bus pass for them so they can ride the city bus also costs money.
So, that figure doesn't really surprise me.
~C
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It is goood to see somebody put pencil to paper and add things up.
I guess I can see it now that you spell it out like that. I guess I just can't believe that with modern living, the cost of having children has risen.
The other thing is that it is always possible to get hings second hand and be frugal to save money. That money is an average, so I think I'll sort for lower than that for my kids.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
I think the cost of raising a child frugally should be calculated as well. I'd say that I probably spend about $1000 per year each on my children, which would add up to much less than the projected $200,000+. They have way more than they need, too. Sure, they haven't reached high school yet, but I suppose the low spending now will average that out.
F*** Religion. Read more here:
http://www.progressiveu.org/020528-f-religion
The perverse thing about this is that middle class taxpayers still shoulder the lion's share of the tax burden.
That means that they are not only coughing up this huge sum of money to raise their own kids but they are taxed hard to subsidize the cost of the kids that poor people are having and getting many of these services paid for by the government.
So the Middle class essentially has to pay twice. And the system incenticizes the wrong people to have children.
Wow this is very interesting. I never thought about how much money was spent on me. This blog has opened my eyes and helped me to be more thankful. Nice post.