Talk About Expensive

The USDA just released the annual "Cost of Raising a Child" report for children born in 2008, and boy-oh-boy are those little tots expensive!

On average, a middle class family can expect to spend over $220,000 raising the children born in 2008 until they are 17 years old, and that isn’t counting for inflation which brings that number to around $300,000. If we do general math (evaluators don’t get upset) and just divide that $220K by 17 years, that equals almost $13,000 a year to have a child! To top that off, this report ONLY counts the necessities, like food and shelter, but leaves out all non essential items!

Income can greatly affect what is spent on a child throughout their childhood and through high school. A family with an average income less than $56,870 can expect to spend almost $160,000 on one child through high school. That means that even adults earning minimum wage will spend upwards of $159,000 on each child in the family!

When speaking with young people about the cost of teen pregnancy, it is important to highlight the financial implications that having children at an early age can have on your life. These are just some numbers to help you start that conversation.

Check out the summary of the entire report for more information.

by: Taylor Wilson, Technical Assistance Associate, SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Contact Taylor: twilson@teenpregnancysc.org