It costs HOW MUCH to raise a child?

Have you ever thought about how much money it takes to raise a child from birth to age 18? If you’re a parent you probably have, but you might not have been able to put a dollar figure to your question.

Now you can. The United States Department of Agriculture has released some new data that will make any parent (or parent-to-be) stand up and take notice. (source)

Based on their research, they claim it will cost middle-income parents an estimated $241,080 to raise a child born last year until the child turns 18. Worse yet, this doesn’t even include their college education!

This is an increase of 3% since 2011. If that isn’t bad enough, consider this: While the cost of raising a child continues to skyrocket, the median income of a middle-class family has fallen some $4,000 per year since 2000 – if you make adjustments for inflation and the fact that many people are unemployed (or underemployed) as a result of the economic difficulties of recent years.

Included in the USDA’s estimate is housing, food, transportation, health care, clothing, child care, education and other expenses such as computers and toys. While all categories have become more expensive across the board, recently health care, child care and education went up the most.

For families with multiple kids, it can be a real struggle – to the point where they are almost priced out of the market when it comes to having licensed childcare.

The USDA’s full breakdown for raising a child is as follows (source):

• Housing 30%
• Child Care and Education 18%;
• Food 16%
• Transportation 14%
• Healthcare 8%
• Miscellaneous 8%
• Clothing 6%