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. Hereâs why itâs 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.
âThe 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,â said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
âThe United States has just been very reluctant, very conservative, when it comes to these kinds of family policies,â said Shawn Fremstad, senior fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
âOne of the issues with child care in the U.S. is itâs a patchwork system,â said Lauren Bauer, an economic studies fellow at Brookings Institution. âWe 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, weâre not getting close to universality or affordability.â
Hereâs why itâs 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.
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Joe Manchin is a monster
12 weeks? I thought I misread it. There is practically no country in Europe where you don't get 12 months of paid leave when a child is born. In many it is up to 3 years. So that's 156 weeks in US terms! Employers pay or pay in part or pay in advance or insure… there are many variations on how this is organized. Slightly different in all EU countries. But 12 weeks? Completely insane, you can't leave a baby alone for a second…
Still 3,7 million kids born every year
Something must be working well. Americans cry too much about money and have a lot of if
I donât feel a connection with a middle class family in San Francisco, sorry youâre rich. Also if the gov wants kids, they better give a lot more to parents for doing so.
So now that we're all poor, here's what I had to do. For my daughter's first year I worked evenings and weekends and her dad worked days. From age one until kindergarten I cleaned the daycare after work to pay for it. She played alone for the hour. Also got WIC and that helped with food costs. Her dad wanted another kid and I said, oh hell no !
Netizens: it's expensive to have kids
Also Netizens: mindlessly waste time scrolling through internet / social media, mindlessly consuming sugar / processed food, mindlessly spend money on unnecessary stuff
Netizens wants to be Riddle, showing intellectualism…
While in reality, they are Two Face, trapped in dualism and moral ambiguity
GLAD so GLAD i live in Canada… we qualified for government subsidy for our sons daycare and even the cost of sending him to a private school is less than full time daycare each month … CANADA, YOU ROCK!!!
I just feel like kids should be free to have to encourage birth rates. Crazy thatâs not how it is
Americans needs to stop having children until the government sees it as a problem and does something about it,.
When people ask why don't you have another kid, I am like, "will you pay for childcare?"
Itâs unfortunate, childcare workers are starting to demand livable wages (which is totally fair), but middle and low class families are feeling the tightness
This is complete and total bs. If kids are so expensive, why do poor people have the most kids? Rich people and poor people have pretty much all the kids now.
This propaganda has clearly been most effective with the middle classes.
Your kids don't need new stuff every year. They don't need a car or even a drivers license when they turn 16. They don't need the latest gadgets. They don't need the trendy new clothes.
What they need is two parents who care about them, play with them, feed them, clothe them and protect them from the dangers of the world. That doesn't cost that much.
I'd be utterly shocked and amazed if you could show me that my parents spent anywhere near 100k on me, even adjusted for inflation, during the 19 years I lived with them from birth. Not to mention my 5 younger siblings.
My vasectomy was very painful but the pain was worth it. THE ECONOMY AS OF 2024 IS GARBAGE
I think you put together a really comprehensive list of pros and cons. One other big disadvantage of staying at home is the foregone career progression and savings accrual. My wife's a teacher. So she gets an annual raise each year with work experience. Add another year of experience towards her pension calculation. Taking 5 plus years out of that is a really heavy impact, not felt in the moment.
So to be fiscally responsible, we should not have children of we cannot afford to give them a good life. đ¤ Can lawmakers to forced to watch this?
Why the Race Card thrown in Every Situation ?! Americans are of all colors & we are all hurting. I live Hawaii, so tell me about it. White, Hawaiian, Asian & Black babies, All Babies, are charged accordingly by the childcare facility. Race has nothing to do with it. Fix the economy.
It only is expensive because we make it expensive
Why are they comparing white middle class families with black families in poverty and then act like its the same thing
The boomers who created this economy will blame lazy millennials for the population decline.
So Why do Latinos still have 3 to 4 children if it cost so much in the USA? Is it because they rely on family over paying for day care?
Wait til youâre old, then youâll find out it cost you more not to have them. And if youâre âa person who shouldnât have kidsâ w t f does that say about you?!
Wow now I see way I'm not allowed to have children and this what my sister are keeping from I understand now there no way in the I can't afford those high numbers to care for a child.
Who else can relate to the struggle of childcare expenses? I found this video by Lel Smits where she breaks it down in a video, and I couldn't stop nodding along! Parenting realities at its finest!
https://youtube.com/shorts/CrpeKz18e6Q?si=nZdT3LoVOZfu3GKU
Want to see how many type of products those Stores are selling in their stores for kids?
And everything look like a "Must"?
From bottle washing liquid? [Isn't that mean all other dishwashing liquid in the market are toxic to the whole populations?]
Toxic Businesses.
Manipulate young parents minds into buying everything.
Why?
No experiences.
End up?
Keep on checking out how many types of toxic foods and drinks are selling out there to those human.
Keep on checking out how many types of toxins are hidden inside everybody households.
From washing powders, dish washing liquid, PFAS in cookwares, deadly chemicals in household cleaning products, everything around those houses are contain some form of toxins, even shampoo and hair conditioners to body wash gel, everything contain harmful chemicals to human via their lungs.
Expensive?
Yes. Healthcare is going to be even more expensive when keep on filling up your home with toxins from those supermarket.
Can not do anything.
Stupid human.
Got lied to by smart corporations.
End up with all types of health problems.
Before even talk about those medications are also damaging those human too.
Too bad.
Stupid people make stupid choices. They said so.
How much to keep those kid away from toxic foods and drinks industries? $0
America only cares about making money for rich people it's capitalism is the problem we all know it they don't care that we're in the poor house and we can't afford to take care of children or have children you need to be able to afford a house need to be able to put them in a school that doesn't get shot up I mean there's a lot of problems this country doesn't want to fix and people are not having kids as a result
I'm 31F and don't see myself having kids anytime soon. Good for those who can have kids. But I just can't afford it. Finding a suitable boyfriend (and eventual husband) is already hard and expensive enough. It's tiring having to be the main breadwinner, emotional provider, cook, cleaner and take care of my parents. I can't imagine going through the physical and emotional trauma of having kids while having to juggle being the breadwinner, emotional provider, cook, cleaner and caretaker of parents…
Paid family leave sounds great until you realize your company is not hiring replacements for you, and all your coworkers now have to work that much harder since theyâre now short handed.
Something is very VERY wrong in the wealth distribution in this country (usa). Something is going to break if things continue this path. I am an Engineer and my wife is a Masters degree holder. We made good money in paper, we have one child (4), and we live paycheck to paycheck. Daycare is almost another mortgage……
Sad to see many of the people in comments saying they donât want kids. All those people who said that in old age they will be those old ladies who are in hospice by themselves with no one to visit. I love a big family myself and there are up and down but at least I know in the future I have them around when Iâm in hospice or needed support. A lot of American families teach their kids to be individualistic and not family oriented so many of them donât care about their parents when theyâre old, but not in our Asian family where we are closed knitted.
Plus Iâve seen some parents who are on govt assistance is able to raise their kids in today economy. I feel like the one complaining about how expensive having children are the ones who want too much for their children. Like a nanny or daycare, nice clothes, nice homes, locations, education for their kids. Also theyâre chasing the American dream and wanting people to watch their kids and wonder why it cost them so much.
"people in poverty are struggling"
okay yeah that sounds fair….
"especially BLACK people in poverty"
……yeah no sh**…. they are in poverty…. I think anyone in poverty will be struggling, not just cause they are black…….
to have a child is expensive unless you are illegal and someone else pays for your child education and health expenses. biden has allowed so many illegals in the country that, yes it will be more expensive for citizens to pay for their children expenses
this is what is called capitalism.
don't have kids that you can't afford!! I started working at 16, lived frugally from 16 to 25, and when i finally had a kid, i already had a 100k put aside for him.
people make poor life choices and expect the gouvernment to bail them out.
the gouvernment will fix the problem by raising the money through debt, if you think the debt problem is bad now, wait 15 more years, and see the problems that our kids will inherit. hell of a way to start a life…
What is the point in having kids if it's gonna be so expensive bruh
Damn, CNBC guy getting 16 weeks 100% paid leave? Here I thought I was doing good at 8weeks
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