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Kids Cost Little More Now Than in ’60s
Credit: newint
A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report about the found that — adjusted for inflation — kids are 22 percent more expensive today cost of raising a childthan they were in 1960.
The numbers don’t include college tuition, but still, I’m surprised that the overall increase isn’t all that much — just a fifth more.
In 1960, it cost families an average of $182,857 (today’s dollars) to get a child from birth to 17 years old. Now, that number is $222,360. Those numbers are based on 11,800 husband-wife households and 3,350 single-parent households — a pretty big sample.
The biggest jump was in childcare and educations costs, which used to take up only 2 percent of the child-rearing budget but now take up nearly 17 percent. Healthcare costs also doubled.
But the number was kept sort of steady because of a drastically lower price in things like food and clothing. Housing costs have also greatly increased — as has the amount of space kids get — but this category took up the bulk of a kids’ cost back in the room-sharing 1960s.
Go here for a breakdown of these numbers: how much do wealthier people spend per child per year; the poorest, etc. I have three kids and there’s no way we spend $13,000-ish on each every year. (Though we do shell it out for childcare.)
Anyway, with all the stuff there is for kids — computers, games, travel, camps, scooters, classes, helmets, therapy, tutors, date-night babysitters — I would have thought parents these days spent at least 50 percent more on modern kids if not more.
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[...] Kids Cost Little More Now Than in 60s [...]
10 Saddest Kids Movies | Strollerderby commented on Jun 21 10 at 7:01 pm[...] only ones who can afford them. A 2009 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that in 1960 the average middle-class family spent $25,000 per child, compared with a whopping $222,000 in 2…. Adjusted for inflation, that’s a 22% jump. The report also estimates that the current per-child [...]
Jon and Kate Plus 8, 19 Kids and Counting: Is Bigger Better When it Comes to Families? | Strollerderby commented on Jul 30 10 at 10:48 amkate commented on Jun 21 10 at 5:28 pmA lot of it depends on where you live — here in the Boston area, fulltime daycare for babies and toddlers is easily $2K a month (we always did halftime, which was still about $1K a month). It’s easy to get into some crazy high numbers when your base expense is so high! But I know that in other regions you can pay far, far less for excellent care.
Tanya commented on Jun 21 10 at 10:32 pm$2k a month?!?! That’s my mortgage payment in So. California… when I’m paying extra principal! We couldn’t even afford to have two parents working over there. Sorry about the outburst, I’m just flabbergasted.
Laure68 commented on Jun 21 10 at 11:59 pm@Tanya – how much is fulltime daycare in SoCal. We live in the SF Bay Area. I was lucky enough to stay at home when my son was little, but I know people with nannies paid about $20 an hour. With commute times for the parents, the nannies worked at least 10 hours a day, which adds up to about $4500 a month, so I am not surprised that daycare would be around $2K.
PlumbLucky commented on Jun 22 10 at 7:39 amMuch lower in MI, but still enough to give you pause (still around mortgage payment level). But you know what? I figure the high quality care he gets with his sitter is worth the money paid. My job = security for my family right now (anyone checked the unemployment rates in SE MI lately? They aren’t pretty…and layoffs can hit anyone, anywhere, no warning. It can take time to find new employment too – close to a year average, I believe. I might feel a little differently about working if this weren’t the case) along with healthcare. What we’d “save” in childcare costs if I were to stay home, we’d be shelling out monthly for healthcare premiums, but without my income to make up for any of it.
bob commented on Jun 22 10 at 10:00 am20% might not sound like too much, but it works out to almost $40K more, which isn’t chump change, especially considering that real income is close to unchanged for the average family. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States College is much more essential now than it was in 1960, so you have to add in tuition (currently $26,000.00 for 4 years at a state school; $70,000 for private) plus fees, housing and food — and those numbers continue to hyperinflate each year.
Laure68 commented on Jun 22 10 at 12:30 pmActually, like bob says I think 22% is actually a lot considering this has already been adjusted for inflation. I wonder why you thought this was not so much.
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