New report reveals staggering cost of raising a child
Attention new parents: hold on to your wallets.
According to a report released on Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the cost of raising a child born in 2015 is estimated to be a staggering $233,610 –- and that doesn't include college tuition.
WHOA, BABY.
The jaw-dropping report derived the total sum by after calculating that middle-income couples in 2015 will spend between $12,350 and $13,900 annually on child-rearing expenses from birth through age 17.
Families with lower incomes are expected to spend $174,690, and families with higher incomes are expected to spend $372,210 within the same age frame, according to the report.
In all fairness, the USDA has been compiling the same report for decades, and the cost of raising a child has never been "cheap," per se.
In 1960, the first year the report was ever issued, a middle-income family could have expected to spend $25,230 ($195,690 in 2012 dollars) to raise a child through age 17.
In case you needed another reason to call and thank your parents today, that seems like a pretty good one.
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