For any future parents, be prepared to fill your hearts with love and empty your pockets.
The United States Department of Agriculture says guardians will likely spend nearly a quarter of a million dollars on their children before they step foot on a college campus.
The price-per-child estimate was broken down into seven main groups: Housing 30 percent, Food 16 percent, Child Care and Education 18 percent, Transportation 14 percent, Health Care and Miscellaneous Activities both 8 percent and Clothing 6 percent. Notably, college tuition is not included.
As you might imagine the price jumps from region to region and class to class. While people in the Urban Northeast pay on average 280,000 dollars, those in the Urban South can expect to pay almost 50 thousand dollars less.
And the split for rural families versus urban parents is even bigger at a whopping $90,000.
The $245,000 mark shows a two percent jump from last year or about $4,200. But, in the interest of keeping the human race going, let's explore some of the positives.
As Businessweek points out, while the overall cost of raising a child has never been higher, this is the smallest rise in cost since the financial crisis. "With inflation in check as health-care costs rise more slowly, jobs are created and the Federal Reserve winds down record economic stimulus."
And Money quotes a financial planner who says, "I wouldn’t dive in without considering the financial consequences, but I also wouldn’t let them scare you off."
The data from the study is based on information from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, conducted by the federal government.
