Posted on 05/16/2006 5:58:35 PM PDT by Flavius
According to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it costs a middle-income family $250,000 to raise a child from birth to age 17. And that doesn't include the cost of a college education.
In the first year alone, the costs of a baby can reach between $9,000 and $11,000, and most new and expectant parents don't realize the size of the financial burden they are taking on.
"Most people are more focused on the schedule disruptions and the exhaustion they will be facing," says Brette McWhorter Sember, a retired lawyer and author of "Your Practical Pregnancy Planner: Everything You Need to Know About the Financial and Legal Aspects of Preparing for Your New Baby" (McGraw-Hill, 2005).
So where does the money go? Here are the top nine financial shocks that parents face when they add a child to their family.
1. Medical expenses: Medical care for mother and child is a potentially significant expense facing new parents. The cost of delivering a new baby can range from $5,000 to $8,000 for a vaginal delivery to more than $12,000 for a cesarean delivery. If there are complications, those costs can increase dramatically. Even if your child is in perfect health, new babies require numerous well-visit checkups and immunizations.
"If you don't have insurance or have a rather pricey co-pay, you'll be shocked at how much it costs every time you take your baby to the doctor for shots, well-care and sick visits," says Jeannette Moninger, the mother of twin boys in Greenwood, Ind.
Be sure to check the terms of your health insurance coverage carefully so that there are no surprises when it comes to who is responsible for paying for what portions of your and your baby's medical care. Because many health plans penalize you for using doctors that aren't on the health plan's approved list, confirm that your obstetrician (including the hospital at which you plan to deliver) and pediatrician are "in network." An often overlooked expense is the additional cost to add a child to your health insurance.
After reviewing your health insurance coverage, check to see if your employer offers a health care flexible spending account. These accounts can significantly reduce the burden of out-of-pocket medical expenses by allowing you to pay for qualifying expenses with pretax dollars.
2. Maternity leave: Although most short-term disability insurance policies cover the time Mom is out of work due to recovery from child birth (or complications during pregnancy), the average policy only pays a portion of your gross income for a set number of weeks (usually four to eight) after birth. If your maternity leave extends beyond the stipulated time, or if Dad decides to take advantage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), it will be at no pay unless you use vacation or sick leave.
To cover the cost of that lost income, Deborah A. Wilburn, author of "For Richer, Not Poorer: The Newlyweds' Financial Survival Guide" (Perigee, 2005), suggests some advance planning. "Couples should try saving one of their salaries for several months leading up to the delivery date," says Wilburn.
3. Child care: If both parents work outside of the home, they need to be prepared for probably the biggest financial shock facing new parents -- the cost of child care. Depending upon where you live, child care expenses can range from $5,000 per year for family day care to more than $20,000 per year for a live-out nanny.
Check out day care options during the pregnancy and choose one that you are comfortable with and that you can afford. Check with your employer to see if they offer a dependent care spending account. Similar to health care flexible spending accounts, these accounts enable you to pay for qualifying child care expenses with pretax dollars. You may also be able to claim a child care credit on your federal income tax return, although, if available, a dependent-care spending account is often more advantageous financially.
4. Diapers and wipes: The average baby goes through 10 diapers a day. If you use disposable diapers, that'll cost you about $2,000 by the time your little one is potty-trained! The cost of cleaning their little bottom with a wet wipe or two at each diaper change will add about $100 to your monthly grocery bill. Even cloth diapers can be expensive if you use a diaper service.
To save money in this area, you can use cloth diapers and launder them yourself. Jennifer Herrin of Tulsa, Okla., found it easy to use cloth diapers with her children.
"These days you can buy them with Velcro or snaps and elasticized leg openings so they fit just as snugly as the expensive disposable diapers," Herrin says. She washed them at home and saved a bundle.
5. Formula and/or breast-feeding expenses: The cost of formula shocks just about every new parent. The general rule of thumb is that a baby needs about 2.5 ounces of formula per pound of body weight per day.
Breast-feeding can certainly minimize that expense, but there are some hidden costs associated with breastfed babies. For example, you may need to purchase or rent a breast pump, an essential for moms who work outside the home. Nursing bras, breast pads, nursing tops, lanolin ointment and a breast-feeding pillow are also common expenditures.
6. Baby gear: Many new parents don't realize just how much "baby gear" is required to care for and entertain an infant. Crib? Changing table? Rocker or glider? Car seat? Stroller? Baby swing? Monitor? Bouncer seat? Doorway jumper?
Most of these items, with the exception of a car seat, can be purchased used. "Baby furniture, such as a changing table, gets very little wear and tear and can be purchased second-hand," advises Wilburn.
7. Clothing and shoes: Lisa Collier Cool of Pelham, N.Y., was surprised by how much she spent just dressing her children.
"Babies outgrow clothing at an amazing rate, so they need a new wardrobe every few months," Collier Cool says. "Plus, they never get to wear some of the gifts you get because by the time they get to be the right size, it's the wrong season for the clothes!"
Shopping at consignment stores and yard sales or swapping baby clothes with friends can save a lot of money. Buying clothes on sale at the end of the season (in a larger size so your child can wear the clothes next year) also helps cut expenses.
8. Baby food: Once babies reach 4 to 6 months of age, they start eating baby food in addition to drinking breast milk or formula.
Although it can be time consuming, puréeing your own food rather than buying baby food in jars can be a money-saver.
9. Life insurance premiums and attorney fees: Wilburn advises couples to review their life insurance policies and increase them so that each spouse has adequate funds to raise each child to age 21, should something happen to one of them.
"In addition, they should have wills written, naming a guardian for the baby," Wilburn says. "If there is no will and the two of you perish together, do you want a judge to decide who will raise your child without the benefit of your opinion?"
There's no way to get around the attorney's fees for setting up a will and taking care of your insurance and estate planning, but doing some comparison shopping may help. Ask friends and family members who they used and find legal and financial representation that is reasonably priced.
There's no doubt about it, having a baby is expensive. McWhorter Sember advises parents to put together a family budget that includes these expenses.
"A lot of families don't start thinking seriously about money until after they are parents, so you are not alone if you haven't considered these types of expenditures," she says.
Rank Country Amount (top to bottom) #1 Niger 48.3 #2 Uganda 47.39 #3 Afghanistan 47.02 #4 Mali 46.77 #5 Chad 45.98 #6 Somalia 45.62 #7 Angola 44.64 #8 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 44.38 #9 Liberia 44.22 #10 Burkina Faso 44.17 #11 Malawi 43.95 #12 Yemen 43.07 #13 Sierra Leone 42.84 #14 Guinea 42.03 #15 Benin 41.99 #16 Madagascar 41.66 #17 Mayotte 41.58 #18 Mauritania 41.43 #19 Zambia 41.38 #20 Sao Tome and Principe 40.8 #21 Nigeria 40.65 #22 Rwanda 40.6 #23 Kenya 40.13 #24 Gaza Strip 40.03 #25 Djibouti 39.98 #26 Gambia, The 39.86 #27 Burundi 39.66 #28 Eritrea 38.62 #29 Ethiopia 38.61 #30 Tanzania 38.16 #31 Guinea-Bissau 37.65 #32 Comoros 37.52 #33 Oman 36.73 #34 Haiti 36.59 #35 Gabon 36.24 #36 Equatorial Guinea 36.18 #37 Laos 35.99 #38 Mozambique 35.79 #39 Cote d'Ivoire 35.51 #40 Maldives 35.43 #41 Senegal 35.21 #42 Sudan 35.17 #43 Central African Republic 35.17 #44 Cameroon 34.67 #45 Guatemala 34.11 #46 Bhutan 34.03 #47 Marshall Islands 33.52 #48 Togo 33.48 #49 Tajikistan 32.58 #50 Iraq 32.5 #51 West Bank 32.37 #52 Nepal 31.45 #53 Kiribati 30.86 #54 Solomon Islands 30.74 #55 Pakistan 30.42 #56 Honduras 30.38 #57 Bangladesh 30.01 #58 Papua New Guinea 29.95 #59 Zimbabwe 29.74 #60 Saudi Arabia 29.56 #61 Paraguay 29.43 #62 Belize 29.34 #63 Syria 28.29 #64 Congo, Republic of the 27.88 #65 Swaziland 27.72 #66 Turkmenistan 27.68 #67 East Timor 27.19 #68 Cambodia 27.08 #69 El Salvador 27.04 #70 Libya 26.82 #71 Lesotho 26.53 #72 Uzbekistan 26.22 #73 Cape Verde 25.33 #74 Philippines 25.31 #75 Tonga 25.18 #76 Namibia 25.16 #77 Nauru 25.14 #78 Micronesia, Federated States of 25.11 #79 Nicaragua 24.88 #80 Ghana 23.97 #81 Bolivia 23.76 #82 Botswana 23.33 #83 Egypt 23.32 #84 Dominican Republic 23.28 #85 American Samoa 23.13 #86 Malaysia 23.07 #87 Vanuatu 23.06 #88 Fiji 22.73 #89 Ecuador 22.67 #90 Kyrgyzstan 22.48 #91 India 22.32 #92 Grenada 22.3 #93 Morocco 22.29 #94 Turks and Caicos Islands 22.23 #95 Tuvalu 21.91 #96 Kuwait 21.88 #97 Jordan 21.76 #98 Mongolia 21.52 #99 Mexico 21.01 #100 Peru 20.87 #101 Colombia 20.82 #102 Indonesia 20.71 #103 French Guiana 20.7 #104 Azerbaijan 20.4 #105 Saint Lucia 20.05 #106 Panama 19.96 #107 Northern Mariana Islands 19.51 #108 Reunion 19.26 #109 Guam 19.03 #110 Brunei 19.01 #111 Venezuela 18.91 #112 Lebanon 18.88 #113 United Arab Emirates 18.78 #114 Costa Rica 18.6 #115 New Caledonia 18.49 #116 South Africa 18.48 #117 Guyana 18.45 #118 Suriname 18.39 #119 Palau 18.37 #120 Israel 18.21 #121 Saint Kitts and Nevis 18.12 #122 Burma 18.11 #123 Bahrain 18.1 #124 Bahamas, The 17.87 #125 Montserrat 17.56 #126 Antigua and Barbuda 17.26 #127 Algeria 17.13 #128 Vietnam 17.07 #129 French Polynesia 16.93 #130 Argentina 16.9 #131 Iran 16.83 #132 Turkey 16.83 #133 Brazil 16.83 #134 Jamaica 16.56 #135 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 16.34 #136 Seychelles 16.22 #137 Korea, North 16.09 #138 Samoa 15.95 #139 Greenland 15.93 #140 Kazakhstan 15.78 #141 Dominica 15.73 #142 Thailand 15.7 #143 Sri Lanka 15.63 #144 Mauritius 15.62 #145 Qatar 15.54 #146 Tunisia 15.5 #147 Chile 15.44 #148 Guadeloupe 15.42 #149 Moldova 15.27 #150 Albania 15.08 #151 Netherlands Antilles 15 #152 British Virgin Islands 14.96 #153 Ireland 14.47 #154 Anguilla 14.26 #155 Virgin Islands 14.2 #156 Martinique 14.14 #157 United States 14.14 #158 Uruguay 14.09 #159 Faroe Islands 13.97 #160 Puerto Rico 13.93 #161 New Zealand 13.9 #162 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 13.83 #163 Iceland 13.73 #164 China 13.14 #165 Cayman Islands 12.92 #166 Barbados 12.83 #167 Trinidad and Tobago 12.81 #168 Taiwan 12.64 #169 Cyprus 12.57 #170 Bosnia and Herzegovina 12.49 #171 Saint Helena 12.33 #172 Australia 12.26 #173 France 12.15 #174 Serbia and Montenegro 12.12 #175 Luxembourg 12.06 #176 Cuba 12.03 #177 Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of 12 #178 Armenia 11.76 #179 Norway 11.67 #180 Bermuda 11.6 #181 Denmark 11.36 #182 Aruba 11.26 #183 Man, Isle of 11.18 #184 Netherlands 11.14 #185 Gibraltar 10.87 #186 Canada 10.84 #187 Belarus 10.83 #188 Portugal 10.82 #189 United Kingdom 10.78 #190 Poland 10.78 #191 Romania 10.7 #192 Slovakia 10.62 #193 Finland 10.5 #194 Ukraine 10.49 #195 Belgium 10.48 #196 Liechtenstein 10.41 #197 Sweden 10.36 #198 Georgia 10.25 #199 San Marino 10.18 #200 Malta 10.17 #201 Spain 10.1 #202 Korea, South 10.08 #204 Estonia 9.91 #205 Russia 9.8 #206 Switzerland 9.77 #207 Hungary 9.76 #208 Greece 9.72 #209 Jersey 9.66 #210 Bulgaria 9.66 #211 Croatia 9.57 #212 Singapore 9.49 #213 Japan 9.47 #214 Monaco 9.26 #215 Czech Republic 9.07 #216 Latvia 9.04 #217 Guernsey 9.01 #218 Andorra 9 #219 Slovenia 8.95 #220 Italy 8.89 #221 Austria 8.81 #222 Lithuania 8.62 #223 Germany 8.33 #224 Macau 8.04 #225 Hong Kong 7.23
BS!
They can't afford to grow up and I can't afford to raise them. (ROTFLMAO)
Self employed here.
Good insurance and we ate the rest of the costs. Then again that was our choice.
But, then again, I'm paying that much every year so low income people can sit at home, drink beer, smoke, buy lotto tickets, let their kids run through the streets and get somebody else to make their electric, housing, insurance and food payments.
Pay your own way. What a concept.
Quarter million per child? Guess that breaks down as $100k for yours and $25k apiece for a half-dozen Illegals.
My twin grandsons (an adorable 15 mos old) are dressed almost for free by their parents.
*Grandma and Papa buy their clothes off of ebay and clearance sales.
#209 Jersey ?? :oO
immigrant in 3rd world countries either due to poverty or religious beliefs have more kids then they can afford
result is high unemployment and migration towards countries that have low birth rates
resulting in a flood from low economic zones with out of whack birth rates to areas with small birth rates
japan recently decided not to import immigrants to compensate for lack of children
they decide to robotize their eleder care
N HOT WATER: A nursing home resident enjoys a visit with her robot bathtub. � Borrowing an idea from the auto industry, Japanese nursing homes have begun experimenting with using robots to help care for the elderly. At one nursing home run by Matsushita Electric, a package of sensors is placed inside a teddy bear. From time to time, the bear asks its human companion a question. Then, judging by the response time, it decides whether a nursing assistant should be called. One of the most labor-intensive nursing home tasks is bathing frail residents. For this job, Sanyo Electric has introduced what is essentially a robot bathtub. Costing about $50,000, it closes around a patient who is seated in a wheelchair. The wash and rinse cycles operate automatically. A nurse's aide takes care of washing hair and toweling the resident off. Japan's need for elder-care robots is partially driven by a falloff in its national birthrate, which has left the country with too few young to care for the old. The Japan Robot Association expects the demand for elder-care robots to help the personal-robot industry grow to $40 billion by 2025. http://odiumcorp.blogster.com/robots_help_japan_care_for.html
Birth rate+ Rank Country Amount (top to bottom)
#1 Niger 48.3
#2 Uganda 47.39
#3 Afghanistan 47.02
#4 Mali 46.77
#5 Chad 45.98
#6 Somalia 45.62
#7 Angola 44.64
#8 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 44.38
#9 Liberia 44.22
#10 Burkina Faso 44.17
#11 Malawi 43.95
#12 Yemen 43.07
#13 Sierra Leone 42.84
#14 Guinea 42.03
#15 Benin 41.99
#16 Madagascar 41.66
#17 Mayotte 41.58
#18 Mauritania 41.43
#19 Zambia 41.38
#20 Sao Tome and Principe 40.8
#21 Nigeria 40.65 v#22 Rwanda 40.6
#23 Kenya 40.13
#24 Gaza Strip 40.03
#25 Djibouti 39.98
#26 Gambia, The 39.86
#27 Burundi 39.66
#28 Eritrea 38.62
#29 Ethiopia 38.61
#30 Tanzania 38.16
#31 Guinea-Bissau 37.65
#32 Comoros 37.52
#33 Oman 36.73
#34 Haiti 36.59
#35 Gabon 36.24
#36 Equatorial Guinea 36.18
#37 Laos 35.99
#38 Mozambique 35.79
#39 Cote d'Ivoire 35.51
#40 Maldives 35.43
#41 Senegal 35.21
#42 Sudan 35.17
#43 Central African Republic 35.17
#44 Cameroon 34.67
#45 Guatemala 34.11
#46 Bhutan 34.03
#47 Marshall Islands 33.52
#48 Togo 33.48
#49 Tajikistan 32.58
#50 Iraq 32.5
#51 West Bank 32.37
#52 Nepal 31.45 #53 Kiribati 30.86 #54 Solomon Islands 30.74 #55 Pakistan 30.42 #56 Honduras 30.38 #57 Bangladesh 30.01 #58 Papua New Guinea 29.95 #59 Zimbabwe 29.74 #60 Saudi Arabia 29.56 #61 Paraguay 29.43 #62 Belize 29.34 #63 Syria 28.29 #64 Congo, Republic of the 27.88 #65 Swaziland 27.72 #66 Turkmenistan 27.68 #67 East Timor 27.19 #68 Cambodia 27.08 #69 El Salvador 27.04 #70 Libya 26.82 #71 Lesotho 26.53 #72 Uzbekistan 26.22 #73 Cape Verde 25.33 #74 Philippines 25.31 #75 Tonga 25.18 #76 Namibia 25.16 #77 Nauru 25.14 #78 Micronesia, Federated States of 25.11 #79 Nicaragua 24.88 #80 Ghana 23.97 #81 Bolivia 23.76 #82 Botswana 23.33 #83 Egypt 23.32 #84 Dominican Republic 23.28 #85 American Samoa 23.13 #86 Malaysia 23.07 #87 Vanuatu 23.06 #88 Fiji 22.73 #89 Ecuador 22.67 #90 Kyrgyzstan 22.48 #91 India 22.32 #92 Grenada 22.3 #93 Morocco 22.29 #94 Turks and Caicos Islands 22.23 #95 Tuvalu 21.91 #96 Kuwait 21.88 #97 Jordan 21.76 #98 Mongolia 21.52 #99 Mexico 21.01 #100 Peru 20.87 #101 Colombia 20.82 #102 Indonesia 20.71 #103 French Guiana 20.7 #104 Azerbaijan 20.4 #105 Saint Lucia 20.05 #106 Panama 19.96 #107 Northern Mariana Islands 19.51 #108 Reunion 19.26 #109 Guam 19.03 #110 Brunei 19.01 #111 Venezuela 18.91 #112 Lebanon 18.88 #113 United Arab Emirates 18.78 #114 Costa Rica 18.6 #115 New Caledonia 18.49 #116 South Africa 18.48 #117 Guyana 18.45 #118 Suriname 18.39 #119 Palau 18.37 #120 Israel 18.21 #121 Saint Kitts and Nevis 18.12 #122 Burma 18.11 #123 Bahrain 18.1 #124 Bahamas, The 17.87 #125 Montserrat 17.56 #126 Antigua and Barbuda 17.26 #127 Algeria 17.13 #128 Vietnam 17.07 #129 French Polynesia 16.93 #130 Argentina 16.9 #131 Iran 16.83 #132 Turkey 16.83 #133 Brazil 16.83 #134 Jamaica 16.56 #135 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 16.34 #136 Seychelles 16.22 #137 Korea, North 16.09 #138 Samoa 15.95 #139 Greenland 15.93 #140 Kazakhstan 15.78 #141 Dominica 15.73 #142 Thailand 15.7 #143 Sri Lanka 15.63 #144 Mauritius 15.62 #145 Qatar 15.54 #146 Tunisia 15.5 #147 Chile 15.44 #148 Guadeloupe 15.42 #149 Moldova 15.27 #150 Albania 15.08 #151 Netherlands Antilles 15 #152 British Virgin Islands 14.96 #153 Ireland 14.47 #154 Anguilla 14.26 #155 Virgin Islands 14.2 #156 Martinique 14.14 #157 United States 14.14 #158 Uruguay 14.09 #159 Faroe Islands 13.97 #160 Puerto Rico 13.93 #161 New Zealand 13.9 #162 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 13.83 #163 Iceland 13.73 #164 China 13.14 #165 Cayman Islands 12.92 #166 Barbados 12.83 #167 Trinidad and Tobago 12.81 #168 Taiwan 12.64 #169 Cyprus 12.57 #170 Bosnia and Herzegovina 12.49 #171 Saint Helena 12.33 #172 Australia 12.26 #173 France 12.15 #174 Serbia and Montenegro 12.12 #175 Luxembourg 12.06 #176 Cuba 12.03 #177 Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of 12 #178 Armenia 11.76 #179 Norway 11.67 #180 Bermuda 11.6 #181 Denmark 11.36 #182 Aruba 11.26 #183 Man, Isle of 11.18 #184 Netherlands 11.14 #185 Gibraltar 10.87 #186 Canada 10.84 #187 Belarus 10.83 #188 Portugal 10.82 #189 United Kingdom 10.78 #190 Poland 10.78 #191 Romania 10.7 #192 Slovakia 10.62 #193 Finland 10.5 #194 Ukraine 10.49 #195 Belgium 10.48 #196 Liechtenstein 10.41 #197 Sweden 10.36 #198 Georgia 10.25 #199 San Marino 10.18 #200 Malta 10.17 #201 Spain 10.1 #202 Korea, South 10.08 #204 Estonia 9.91 #205 Russia 9.8 #206 Switzerland 9.77 #207 Hungary 9.76 #208 Greece 9.72 #209 Jersey 9.66 #210 Bulgaria 9.66 #211 Croatia 9.57 #212 Singapore 9.49 #213 Japan 9.47 #214 Monaco 9.26 #215 Czech Republic 9.07 #216 Latvia 9.04 #217 Guernsey 9.01 #218 Andorra 9 #219 Slovenia 8.95 #220 Italy 8.89 #221 Austria 8.81 #222 Lithuania 8.62 #223 Germany 8.33 #224 Macau 8.04 #225 Hong Kong 7.23
Robots sound good.
If you let the kids air out in the back yard, you can cut diaper costs way down and save on Desitin.
Is that saying $100 a month for wipes? The ones I get are under $10 for a big box. That will last at least a few weeks..
The kid must crap like an elephant or the wipes must be from Bloomingdales.
Looks like Todd and Margo have already spent over $2.5 million being without kids and we haven't even gotten down to the daily expenses of being DINKS such as the daily trip to Starbucks where they drop $10 a day easily on stuff like double-shot lattes and fancy pastries or the constant trips to Sharper Image and Brookstones where they are always buying useless things like $60 forks that tell you what the temperature of the steak you are eating with and those little golf video games that end up in Todd's closet and never get used.
Todd and Margo could have raised 10 kids and ended up saving money!
Excellent points, that is what I was thinking. I'm amazed by the parents who spend money on Polo and Tommy Hilfiger clothing for their kids. Kids don't care about style yet? Or do they? I know I really didn't care about style until 7th or 8th grade and I had to do chores to earn my own money to buy the pricey "everyone's got it" brand of clothing.
"First off why is the Department of AGRICUTLURE doing a study on the cost of raising a child."
Gotta' find something to do.
As there's no need to make ground-breaking advances in automating agriculture
when we have a cheap de facto slave-labor force.
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