Bundle o’ bills
Child-rearing costs exceed $12G per year
THIS JUST IN: It’s still really, really expensive to rear a child in the United States.
The cost of raising a kid born in 2015 — for the typical middle-income American family, that is — totals $233,610 from birth through age 17, or about $12,350 to $13,900 per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual Expenditures on Children by Families report. And that’s before any college costs enter the equation.
The expenditure breakdown, per the report released Monday: About 29% goes to housing; 18% to food; 16% for child care and education; 15% for transportation; 9% for health care; 7% for personal care, entertainment, reading materials The spending breakdown, according to Dept. of Agriculture report Monday: and other miscellaneous items; and 6% for clothing.
Costs vary by region: Middle-income, married urban Northeasterners will pay the most ($253,770), followed by the urban West ($235,140), urban South ($221,730) and rural areas ($193,020). Expenditures also vary by income level: Lower-income households will pay $174,690, but the highest-earning families will spend $372,210.
When the report was first issued in 1960, “housing and food were the two highest expenses, just as they are today,” Angie Tagtow, executive director of the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, said in a statement. “But while housing costs have increased over time, changes in American agriculture have resulted in lower food costs, and family food budgets now represent a lower percentage of household income.”
The current estimate isn’t directly comparable to previous figures due to changes in methodology, the USDA said.
A small silver lining: Childrearing expenditures increased only 3% from 2014 to 2015, slower than the historic annual increase of 4.3%. And as families grow, cost per-child tends to decrease — the “cheaper by the dozen effect.”
“As families increase in size, children may share a bedroom, clothing and toys can be reused, and food can be purchased in larger, more economical packages,” said Center for Nutrition Policy economist Mark Lino.