Kids only cost $4,500 a year, group claims

A prominent think tank raised eyebrows on Thursday by releasing data suggesting the financial toll of parenthood has never been lighter.

Research from the right-of-centre Fraser Institute found that the cost of raising a child in Canada totalled no more than $4,500 a year per offspring, less than half of more common estimates of $10,000 or more.

The research group, which studies economic and social issues from a fiscally conservative perspective, also argued the figure could be lowered even further by penny-wise parents who commit to pruning all unnecessary expenses from their child-rearing budgets. But the Institute’s research was greeted with consternation by many parents who contend the study fails to account for the rigours of modern life.

The research deliberately excluded the cost of day-care, housing and extracurricular activities, all of which are vital and costly items in most family budgets, they said.

Study author Chris Sarlo said the bare-bones approach was a deliber- ate research decision.

The cost of raising a child in this country is a controversial issue, he conceded, adding family finances are mostly subjective and therefore difficult to compare.

Sarlo opted to focus only on the additional cost each child would bring to the family, leaving out expenses that may have been previously incurred by the parents such as housing and automobiles.

“If we lump in costs that were going to be there anyway … I think it’s inappropriate to put that on the children,” Sarlo said in a telephone interview from North Bay.

After analyzing Statistics Canada’s 2009 Survey of Household Expenses, Ottawa SkyHawks basketball player Manock Lual graduated from Rideau High School. Incorrect information provided to the Citizen led to a misidentification of the school on page B2 of Thursday’s Citizen. Sarlo concluded the baseline cost of raising a child fell between $3,000 and $4,500 per child per year.

The numbers suggest it’s perfectly possible to raise a happy, healthy child for less than expected, he said, adding the majority of families will opt for additional expenses.

Many parents cried foul, however, arguing those additional expenses are the very things that enhance a child’s quality of life in the present and chances of success in the future.