Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The Cost of a Family

Just the other night, my dear wife turned to me in exasperation, asking, “Where is all of our money going?” (She might not have used those exact words, but you get the drift.” Like the answer to a prayer, the United States Department of Agriculture provided the reason way back on June 9. I just happened to hear about it on the radio this morning.

The USDA estimates that a middle-income family can expect to spend about $227K over the next 17 years on a child born today. The government agency even provides a nifty little calculator, allowing you to estimate how much you spend each year for your little ones. We have seven kids – the calculator only allows for six. However, the average cost comes out very close to $10K per child per year. You can do the math for seven kids.

Can there be any doubt that, in the view of the United States government, children are a tremendous financial drain? The effect of a report like this is to discourage young couples from embarking on the adventure of parenthood.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

See, we are rich, honey!!! ;)
10k per year per child all depends on what you give your child over the course of a year!

rsctt said...

Exactly!

www.wayfarersquest-rsctt.blogspot.com

The 'Smarty Pants' Family said...

So true! And I have noticed that we work just as hard to feed the seven we have now as we did when we only had three. Soooo much work, but so worth it.

Barb, Utah
www.smartypantsfreeprintables.blogspot.com

Terry said...

Our culture tells us that we have to give our kids everything out there. Not true and not even good for them. Even a college education is a liability now. Love your kids and feed them and they will be fine.