How Much It Actually Costs To Raise Kids In The U.S.

Raising children is expensive in the United States, and families are feeling the pressure. The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a report using 2015 data that estimated child-rearing expenses from birth through age 17 in a two-child, middle-income, married-couple family is $233,610. With inflation, that number translates to almost $286,000 in 2022. According to economists, the current policies in place meant to help families are not doing enough. Here’s why it’s so expensive to raise children in the U.S. and some of the policies the U.S. government could implement to help.

Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
1:42 - How much children cost
5:42 - Child Tax Credit
8:36 - Childcare and paid family leave
11:18 - Solutions

Raising children is expensive in the United States, and families are feeling the pressure.

More than 12.5 million children in the U.S. live in poverty. Even middle-class families are increasingly struggling to pay for everyday expenses.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a report using 2015 data that estimated expenses of child rearing from birth through age 17 in a middle-income family of two adults and two children is $233,610. With inflation, that number translates to almost $286,000 in 2022.

But adjusting for inflation may not be enough. … Child care costs have actually outpaced inflation. In 2020, child care expenses rose 5.03% year over year compared to the annual inflation rate of just 1.2% at the time.

“The fact is that sending an infant to day care in many places across the country could be significantly more expensive than in-state public tuition to send them to college,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

“The United States has just been very reluctant, very conservative, when it comes to these kinds of family policies,” said Shawn Fremstad, senior fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

“One of the issues with child care in the U.S. is it’s a patchwork system,” said Lauren Bauer, an economic studies fellow at Brookings Institution. “We have programs that fully subsidized for eligible children. ... We have tax credits that subsidize a portion of child care costs for higher-income families. We also have block grants to states to help them expand access. The problem with all of these systems is that, with this multitude of approaches, we’re not getting close to universality or affordability.”

Here’s why it’s so expensive to raise children in the U.S., with an explanation of some of the policies the federal government could implement to help families struggling to make ends meet.

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How Much It Actually Costs To Raise Kids In The U.S.

[unabashedlyashley]

What I don’t get is how childcare is so expensive but the salaries of the childcare workers are insanely low. There’s absolutely no correlation

[dawnjohnson]

And people claim that being child free is selfish.. NOPE .. we are being socially responsible. How irresponsible is it to have children when you can't take of yourself financially??

[mida]

It's amazing how in the early '90s, my dad had a mortgage, two cars, and for my mom to be a stay at home mom for a few years all while making slightly above minimum wage and not using any government assistance (my dad "made too much" to qualify.) Granted, money was tight, but we were able to manage it until my dad got his big break and scored a great job as well as my mom.

Meanwhile, I went to school, and now work as an accountant. I'm single with no children and live paycheck to paycheck despite living a very frugal life (I still drive my car from high school, I have the cheapest phone I could buy on MetroPCS, I can't remember the last time I ate out, etc.) I don't live in the best part of town because it's all I can afford. I don't think I'll ever have children because of this. If me, a guy with a career, can barely afford to take care of himself, I cannot imagine those who are making less than me, able to get by with a family in this crazy economy. I hope this all fixes itself sooner than later because I don't know how much I can take this.

[jellygurl]

I do not want to hear anyone ask a Millennial or Gen Z adult when they are having children. Some of us Millennials are still recovering from the 2008 crisis, having Student Loans, living with Parents, we can not even survive basic as a single adult. Let alone have a Child? We are literally living through a crisis. The national average rent is $2, 000 and you have to make 3 times that.

[nripenshenoy]

Forget about raising children, think about maternity expenses in USA.
Around 20k-30k bill just for delivery of a baby 🙏

[sauheaven]

Everything in US has become so expensive, that it has gone from "Cost of living" to "Cost of barely surviving" !!

[petersullivan]

When I was a young adult, I really wanted to have kids. Now that I am in my Thirties, I am more than happy that I never did.

[saramatthews]

In this day and age I am just happy to be childfree. Cost of living in the United States is just getting out of control.

[kingquan]

I can barely afford to take care of myself so I literally cannot ever dream or think of having a child. Hell even dreaming nowadays cost money.

[jd]

If you're low income, the worst thing you can do is have a kid. Absolutely selfish.
Stabilize your finances first, and get to a decent point, before having a kid.

[scott]

Had a vasectomy at 30 with no kids. Now, at 45, I’m still happy with this decision.

[jdreign]

and people wonder why these younger generations have less kids now

[nearby]

This is what happens when you run a society like a business 🤷🏿‍♂️.

[Smartskull]

Let’s assume that it would cost $288, 000 to raise a child from age 0-18. That would work out to $16, 000/yr, or $1, 333 per month over 18 years. Now let’s assume that instead of spending $1, 333 every month on your child, you chose to invest that money at the start of every month in the stock market using a total market index fund that returns 10% annually. At the end of the 18 year period, you would have over $810, 000 in your account, of which $523, 313 is investment gains.

The real cost of raising a child is roughly $810, 000 and NOT just $288, 000 when you factor in the opportunity cost of spending that money instead of having it invested in the stock market with compound interest at work.

[CordeliaWagner]

Main reason for staying childfree: I just don't want kids. I want my life for myself.

[jenniferrudiman]

I am so grateful that my partner and I are childfree by choice but I feel horrible for people who really want or wanted to be parents and are struggling to raise their children

[jasmine]

As a childfree person I know exactly how expensive children are. Why are new parents so clueless and caught off guard? Not to say they don't need help- they absolutely do!

[edvaira]

So glad my kids were young in the late 90’s early 2000’s when it was a bit easier and less expensive…but, as my kids reach their mid 20’s, we are saddened to realize they will likely NEVER be able to afford to be parents themselves…

[dukemandu]

I can't even take care of myself.

[noahbusker]

As an American living abroad, this is why if I ever have children, I won’t have them in the US.