Cost of Raising a Child Born in 2013 Nears $250K

New parents beware: Your little angel is going to cost you a bundle.

A middle-income family with a child born in 2013 can expect to spend about $245,340 for food, shelter and other expenses up to age 18, an increase of 1.8% from 2012, according to an annual report by the U.S. Agriculture Department.

The report, issued annually by the USDA since 1960, found housing was the single-biggest expense, averaging about $73,600 or 30% of the total cost of raising a child, followed by child care/education at 18%.

The remainder went to food, transportation, health care, clothing and miscellaneous expenses during the same period.

The report found geographic variations in the cost of raising a child. They were the highest in the urban Northeast at $282,480, followed by the urban West at $261,330 and the urban Midwest at $240,570, which includes Iowa and South Dakota. The urban South came in the lowest at $230,610 for each child.

Child care costs have soared dramatically since the first report 53 years ago. Back then, a middle-income family could have expected to spend $25,230 ($198,560 in 2013 dollars) to raise a child until the age of 18. Housing was the top cost for parents back then, too.

The USDA estimates leave out one gigantic contributor to the cost of raising kids: college education. As every parent knows, these are considerable.

Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/08/18/raising-child-cost-2013/14236535/