Quarter-Million-Dollar Baby

A baby born in 2013 can cost his parents about $245,340 for food, housing, child care, education and other related expenses by the time he hits young adulthood, at 18.|

When adjusted for inflation, that amount is more like $304,480, according the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual analysis of average family expenditures on children. The figures are meant to reflect the expenses and lifestyle of a middle-income family.

According to the survey results, which are published annually as the “Cost of Raising a Child” report, the cost represents an overall 1.8% increase from 2012, though percentages spent on each expenditure category remain 

the same.

As in the past, the costs by location are lower in the urban South ($230,610) and rural ($193,590) regions of the country. Families in the urban Northeast incurred the ­highest costs to raise a child ($282,480).

In 2013, annual child-rearing expenses per boy or girl for a middle-income, two-parent family ranged from $12,800 to $14,970, depending on his or her age. The report also notes that family income affects child-rearing costs. A family earning less than $61,530 a year can expect to spend a total of $176,550 (in 2013 dollars) on a child from birth through age 18. Parents with an income between $61,530 and $106,540 can expect to spend $245,340; a family earning more than $106,540 can expect to spend $407,820 by high school graduation.

For middle-income families, housing costs are the single largest expenditure made on a child, averaging 30% of the total cost. Child care and education came in second at 18%, followed by food, which was 16% of the total expense.

The average cost of housing for a child up to age 18 is $87,840 for a middle-income family in the urban West, compared with $66,240 in the urban South and $70,200 in the urban Midwest.

In 1960, the first year the report was issued, a middle-income family could have expected to spend $25,230 ($198,560 in 2013 dollars) to raise a child until age 18. Housing was the largest child-rearing expense then, as well. Health-care expenses for children have doubled as a percentage of total child-rearing costs during that time. In addition, some common present-day expenses, such as child care, were negligible in 1960. Costs per child decrease as a family grows. Families with three or more children spend 22% less per child than families with just two.