The cost of raising a child in the US until college has reached a staggering $240,000, and this amount only covers the essential basics, as reported by CBS News. A breakdown of research conducted by Lending Tree reveals that parenting expenses from birth to age 18 average around $237,482. These costs include necessities like food, housing, child care, clothing, transportation, and health insurance, but do not account for enrichment activities like sports, arts, and after-school programs. Among the various expenses, child care is the most significant, averaging nearly $12,000 per year. In some cases, this financial burden has forced parents to leave their jobs or even reconsider having children altogether.
“It’s understandable that people are deeply concerned about how they will afford to raise a child,” explained the chief credit analyst of LendingTree to CBS MoneyWatch. “The numbers are daunting, especially when you realize that these calculations don’t even include college costs.” To mitigate this burden, aspiring parents should start saving early, explore high-yield savings accounts, consider government and nonprofit assistance programs, and allocate funds for future educational expenses, such as a 529 plan. Since college tuition fees can double the overall costs of raising a child, planning ahead by saving as children transition from child care to public school can help alleviate this financial strain.
Lending Tree offers insights into how costs vary based on location. Hawaii tops the list as the most expensive state to raise a child, primarily due to parents paying an additional $4,000 per year in rent compared to those without children, as well as an extra $4,000 annually on health insurance premiums. The District of Columbia and Washington state closely follow, with DC residents spending an average of $25,523 per year on infant day care alone. In these top three expensive areas, the annual cost of raising a child exceeds $28,000. On the other hand, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas—the states with the lowest costs—have expenses that are less than half of those in the priciest states, but parents still shell out an extra $1,000 in rent each year compared to households without children. (Nationally, child poverty rates have increased as pandemic benefits come to an end.)
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