Posted on 09/23/2014 6:26:14 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Children can be a great source of satisfaction but also stressful. As Jennifer Senior puts it in the title of her excellent book on the topic, being a parent is "all joy and no fun." Quite apart from the daily aggravations from arguing with a belligerent toddler or cleaning up after a messy teenager, I wonder how many people think ahead about what it's going to cost in both time and money.
According to the Department of Agriculture, raising one child from birth to college age cost an average of $241,080 in 2012. That doesn't even include the two really big ticket items. The first is the cost of college and the second is the costs a parent (usually the mother) pays for any foregone earnings.
Let's look at some reasonable estimates of each.
In 2013-14, the average annual tuition at an in-state four-year public college was about $9,000. For a private college, including room and board, the average cost is about $40,000. Using the lower figure but multiplying by four years of college, we need to add $36,000 to the above figure.
Now let's look at the cost of one parent working a little less in order to spend some time at home when the child is young. If that parent would normally earn $45,000 a year and chooses to stay home until the child reaches school age and to then work part-time, we are talking about adding roughly another $800,000 in foregone income.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearmarkets.com ...
That’s how much it costs to be a middle to upper-middle class working (usually white) parent who pays his/her way. Obviously, our favored underclass spends a lot less to raise their spawn... in fact, a negative amount. So, as our society follows the “cuckoo strategy,” the workers pay for the nesting of the non-workers’ broods.
I have a couple issues with this article. First of all, the notion that raising children is all work and no fun is absurd. Children are a blessing and a joy. Yes, they’re hard work but let’s not pretend that raising children is a drudgery.
Second, I dispute the $241k figure for raising children. That comes out to just over $13k per year from birth to age 18. I have four kids, I’m not spending anywhere near $52k on them every year.
The problem with articles like this is that it presents parenting as a dreadful and expensive thing when it is not.
Another article discouraging people from being parents.
Having children does not need to break the bank and it’s one of the best things you could ever do, despite all the work. The world is just way too full of selfishness.
I have a 5 year old and haven’t found it to be that expensive. Granted, we cut back on some frivolous eating out and entertainment spending, but we really don’t spend anymore now than pre-child.
I’ve had three. But, I’m sure that some of my taxes educational costs went to raising another half- to full- dozen.
Don’t forget to factor in the cost of private school to keep them away from the soul-crushing, corrupting influence of government indoctrination centers.
I never realized how much it would cost to be a parent today but I am so glad I don’t have to raise my child in todays world. Things were so different raising a kid in the 60’s versus today.
When I held my Son’s cheek to my cheek after he was born, money for my toys became a non-issue.
It is only different if you let it be. I grew up in the 80s and it is no different today. With 2 involved parents, you shape your child’s values. My child has the same environment and rules I did.
My thoughts also.
My late FIL had a way of putting it.
Would you take a million dollars for your child. No? Then your child is worth over a million dollars and you’re at least a millionaire.
There is no computing the value of the rewards I/we have received as parents.
You have to realize, they’re including a percentage of the mortgage/rent and utilities, in that figure.
Of course, they have to ignore the simple fact that you would have these monthly costs, whether you had children or not.
I understanding about personal rearing of a child but I know that my son and his friends could ride their bikes until dusk and then had to be home. Our neighborhood was full of kids in the streets playing ball riding bikes etc. Maybe today that would be child abuse but for the kids it was freedom.
Your heart.
It costs you your heart.
Maybe we just got lucky, but we let ours out unsupervised until dusk and so so some others in the neighborhood. It helps that they play with some older kids that kind of keep an eye out on them and he really hasn’t attempted to go out of shouting distance, but he is only 5. I’d let him if he was with the other kids, but not alone.
Your heart.
It costs you your heart.
___________________________________
AMEN!!!
It costs your heart and your trust in God.
HE DOES provide us with what we need. :-)
The additional cost of children when it comes to mortgage/rent and utilities is largely negligible. Maybe they go up a little bit with kids (you might buy a bigger house, the kids might use more electricity etc) but not to the point where they’re costing $13k per kid per year.
There’s no doubt there are clothing costs associated with kids. Plus toys and such, it’s not like kids don’t cost money. However food cost increases are limited by buying in bulk, in fact for some people food costs drop with kids because they end up making more economical meals.
I’m completely lost as to how anyone could spend so much on a kid unless they’re coughing up a small fortune to pay for a private school, which most people don’t do. I spend $2k on homeschooling every year and I highly doubt my four kids cost me $13k total.
This is nonsense. I know people who have SIX kids who never spent that much from birth to college age.
Where do they get these bogus statistics?
It’s an average. Some are higher. Some lower.
Your friends are a low outlier apparently
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