[Rick]

Raising kids is sooooo expensive….
Raising a child to age 18 in the US can cost around $310,000, with annual expenses averaging $23,000, including housing, food, childcare, and education.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
Total Cost & Annual Expenses:
Total Cost (Birth to Age 18): The estimated total cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 is around $310,000.

Annual Cost: The average annual cost to raise a child is around $23,000.

Inflation: Inflation has significantly increased the cost of raising a child since 2000.

And then there is….

[Ashleigh]

I don’t have kids (personal choice), but I never really bought into the “how much it costs to raise a kid” nonsense.

They’re only expensive if you do it that way. Same with the rest of your life.

Yes, there are unavoidable expenses, but there are ways to do it for less.

My dogs, however, very expensive.

[Nicole]

I just don’t believe this. Sole parent of an almost 7 year old, and even including our travel to 15 different countries there’s no way I have spend $23,000 more a year than I would have single.

Now, to become a Mother and get pregnant on my own, THAT cost $100,000, but raising a child?

No. People are falling for Capitalism and consumerism.

[Erick]

Having kids was best choice I’ve made by a mile. Money means nothing without the love and joy my kids bring me.

[Elisabeth]

Hmm, if kids play sports, take music lessons, need braces, vacations, etc., it gets very expensive and honestly a lot more than $23k.

No complaints here though…happy to spend the money on my kiddos.

[Krista]

But when you love your kid, does it even matter? It cost whatever it takes.

Everyone is different.

[Ally]

I think it’s totally dependent on the area you live in too and the support network you have surrounding you.

Living in a HCOL area, just daycare alone for one kid under 2 is $20k for the year and that’s not even close to the most expensive option.

If you have family to help with childcare or aren’t a two parent working household that can change significantly.

Once you are out of daycare days the cost drops significantly if you pay attention to how you are spending your money, but the early years can be quite rough.

[Ryan]

I’d have my 2 kids and be destitute than millions in the bank and retired.

Having kids lit a fire under my ass that continues to burn as hot as it did 11 years ago.

I’m smarter, more dedicated and will never give up. I also am providing for 4 now not 2, so the bar of performance was raised substantially.

Challenges make us grow.

[Antara]

If one has this kind of mentality, it is better not to have kids.
I have had a few of my adult friends regret that their parents brought them up in a way as if they were an expense and just doing bare minimum, and there is a lot of sadness and bitterness in them
Just saying that there is a choice not to have kids.

I have one kid, and I give it my all financially, emotionally, and physically.

I knew this is my limit and I cannot give my more than 100% to anymore kids so I never got pregnant second time.

In my opinion, it is not fair to bring kids into this world if one doesn’t have the resources or mentally and physically not capable.

[Echo]

Barring extreme circumstances it is does have to be not expensive to raise kids and is really based on your expectations and what you raise your child to expect.

[Miriam]

We have a few kids. We didn’t spend much on all of them. Many things can be reduced/pick different options.

Some things unfortunately are not expected, but you roll with it.

[Misty]

Speech and OT with really good health insurance was $15 a session so $30 for speech and ot, three times a week, x 48 weeks (skipped major holidays and vacations). That was just $4,320.

Dev ped was $2,700 more. That’s on top of clothes, diapers, wipes and regular doc visits and illnesses.

But my second kid has been about 1/4 that cost so yeah it varies – a lot! But they’re only 4 and 7.

It all adds up. Rec sports are cheap. And if you can get hand me down cleats and dance shoes etc – great – if not yikes! lol.

But other activities that they really enjoy can be $1,300+ a year per kids.

[Eva]

Can things cost that much? Yea sure. But like everything FI if you let your values lead your wallet you’ll likely find it won’t or if it does there’s intentionality in the numbers to justify it.

Remember we are a minority group drumming to a different beat.

More personally, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a mom late 20s. Even as I went through years of incredibly costly infertility treatment I was never sold on it if im being honest. & I feared it’d impact my ability to be FIRE by 40.

However, in reflection, if anything it helped me find the balance I needed much sooner without impacting when we hit FI.

A top value in my life is human connection. Nearby on the list is valuing experiences over things.

Parenthood is the single best experience of my life to date and the connection I’m building is beautiful.

Yea it’s stressful, but it’s been more joyous that I could ever explain to someone.

Not to say this is PR for having kids. Know thyself. And if you don’t maybe you’ll end up learning about yourself just going with the flow and finding peace in whatever happens.

[Geoffrey]

…in the United States.
I’m American but have been raising a kid to age 5 so far in Sweden and he literally costs us less than our dog does.

Having public services like healthcare is a big one (though hopefully only most revelant for reducing delivery and post-natal costs to $0 out of pocket).

Swedish kids get their dental care provisioned as part of the public system, too. So, our many trips to the ER and to the dentist for falls have cost us $0 OOP.

But the biggest expense for most American parents is childcare. And in Sweden they’ve just basically extended Kindergarten backwards to age 1—and it’s similarly public and no-cost.

And it’s great quality—which you definitely cannot say for that $15-25K/year private American daycare!

We get this Montessori-style Early Childhood Education here for far less cost to anyone (even when you trace back the tax-funded costs, they’re a fraction of private daycare, for the same reasons that public school costs less than private school: economies of scale and no profit imperative!).

Doesn’t all this stuff require high taxes? Sure. Stuff costs. But my income taxes have only been about 5-8 percentage points higher than in the US.

More than worth it for all this! Especially since it covers my own or my extended family’s healthcare, retirement savings, eldercare, public transit, et al.

All those things are far cheaper to purchase collectively through the state than when you buy them on the (not so free) private market, run by a few players that don’t even face direct competition. My net savings as a parent here vs.

the US are easily $50-70K/year.

And even once I’m beyond the Early Childhood Education phase and being an American parent is relatively cheaper, their savings in other stuff is considerable.

[Katerina]

I have 4 kids, and we don’t make anywhere near $23k x 4, let alone spend that on kids! And yes, my kids get more than the “basic necessities”, but they do the “cheap” version of things.

Rec hockey instead of league. Rec ballet instead of competitive.

If they ever decide that they want to do the more expensive version, we can talk about how they can help fund it (part time job, fundraising, etc).

We thrift most of their clothes, and the rest we get on sale at Costco or Walmart.

Buy in bulk, make treats at home instead, get season’s passes for things.

I don’t think my kids cost us even half as much as this projection.

[Amethyst]

I love this woman, but I always wonder how much she’s spending to get her hair done. Highlighting hair like that is minimum $150 a pop and has to be kept up every 8 weeks.

Either she’s not as frugal as she says, or she’s a boss at doing her hair herself, which is hard to believe because it’s ridiculously difficult to cut, bleach, and dye that style on yourself.

[Marika]

I really hate it when people think they can raise kids cheap or “things will fall into place.” Kids are pricey just for the basics..
And then there are the extra pricey activities that give them a sense of pride and joy/personal growth.

And some kids need to go to private school (my kid was traumatized by bullying in her good public school,) have medical issues, mental health issues, etc.

Trying to approach parenthood without the plan to possibly have to pay for these “extras” is fool hardy. But that’s also why I had one.

I wanted to be able to afford it if I needed it without being too stressed.

[Endri]

What he means by 23,000 doesn’t mean that you are outright spending that on a child, it means as if they child had to pay rent, and lots of other hidden costd.

And this is going for the average, and we are not the average in spending, more on the low end.

[Author]

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