How Much Will Jr. Cost You? A Lot!

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently released USDA’s annual report, Expenditures on Children by Families, which found that a middle-income family with a child born in 2009 can expect to spend about $222,360 ($286,050 if inflation is factored in) for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise that child over the next 17 years, USAgNet.

This represents less than a 1% increase from 2008, the smallest increase this decade, which likely reflects the state of the economy.

Expenses for child care, education, and health care saw the largest percentage increases related to child rearing from 2008, whereas expenses on transportation actually declined. This decline in transportation expenses on a child mitigated the increases in the other expenses.

The report notes geographic variations in the cost of raising a child, with expenses the highest for families living in the urban Northeast, followed by the urban West and urban Midwest. Families living in the urban South and rural areas have the lowest child-rearing expenses per child.