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

CNBC
CNBC
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Published 2022-06-08
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.
All Comments (21)
  • @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
  • @jdreign7210
    and people wonder why these younger generations have less kids now
  • @dawnjohnson9726
    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??
  • @jellygurl27
    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.
  • @nripenshenoy3238
    Forget about raising children, think about maternity expenses in USA. Around 20k-30k bill just for delivery of a baby 🙏
  • @mida8261
    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.
  • @sauheaven7
    Everything in US has become so expensive, that it has gone from "Cost of living" to "Cost of barely surviving" !!
  • @scott2228
    Had a vasectomy at 30 with no kids. Now, at 45, I’m still happy with this decision.
  • @saramatthews7159
    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.
  • @petersullivan3467
    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.
  • @nearby222
    This is what happens when you run a society like a business 🤷🏿‍♂️.
  • @kingquan3826
    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.
  • @jasmine9538
    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!
  • @CordeliaWagner
    Main reason for staying childfree: I just don't want kids. I want my life for myself.
  • @noahbusker2674
    As an American living abroad, this is why if I ever have children, I won’t have them in the US.
  • @edvaira6891
    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…
  • @mariaansley1519
    The most expensive part is not being able to work because after expenses on childcare and gas it's more expensive than working
  • @1HeatWalk
    Just having enough money is not enough to be a good parent or help a child to grow up into a proper adult. My parents worked all the time, but didn't spend much time with me. All of their wisdom never got passed down to me. I struggled to fit in with people and society all my life which lead to being bullied and massive depression because the lack of confidence to take on life's challenges.