Note: U.S. average for middle-income husband-wife families. (Source: USDA Expenditures on Children by Families, 2013)

By ALEX GANGITANO

For middle-income families, the cost of raising a child born in 2013 until age 18 is $245,340, according to the Agriculture Department’s “Expenditures on Children and Families” report released today.

Food is the third-highest cost after housing and education for middle-income families, but it is the second-highest cost after housing for lower-income and single-parent families, the report said.

While the cost of raising a child has gone up since 2012, “the good news” is the cost increased only 1.8 percent, Agriculture Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Kevin Concannon said in a call to reporters.

The overall cost is an accumulation of food, housing, childcare, education and other expenses, he noted.

This annual report is based on data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, which is the federal government’s report on household expenditures. Education and childcare expenses have increased the most since last year.

“Families across the country can benefit from it because it gives an indication of key expenses they want to be prepared for,” Concannon said.

This report is also important for state governments and family courts in determining child-support payments, he noted.

In 2013, the annual expenses per child for a middle-income and two-parent family was between $12,800 and $14,970.

For a middle-income, two-parent home, housing costs are the single largest expenditure on a child, accounting for 30 percent. Childcare and education are the second largest expenditures, accounting for 18 percent, and food is the third, accounting for 16 percent.

For a lower-income or single-parent home, food is the second largest expenditure, accounting for 18 percent and 21 percent, respectively.

The report shows that where the family lives affects the price of raising a child and as more children are born into the family, the expense per child decreases.

As in the past, the costs by location are lower in the urban South ($230,610) and rural ($193,590) regions of the country. Families in the urban Northeast incurred the highest costs to raise a child ($282,480).

In 1960, the first year the report was issued, a middle-income family could have expected to spend $25,230 ($198,560 in 2013 dollars) to raise a child until the age of 18.

Housing was the largest child-rearing expense both then and now. Health care expenses for a child have doubled as a percentage of total child-rearing costs during that time. In addition, some common current-day costs, such as childcare, were negligible in 1960.

Angela Tagtow, the new executive director of USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, noted that when the report was first released in 1960 food costs amounted to 24 percent of the cost of raising a child.

Concannon said that as the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, goes into effect, health care costs should go down.

“As more have access to health care, we expect that will have a moderating effect on health care costs,” he said. “It is an investment in the future.”

Mark Lino, the USDA economist responsible for the report, said, “Children have many benefits. They are not just a cost item with a budget.”

“Lino is an economist with a heart,” Concannon said.

▪ USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion — Expenditures on Children by Families, 2013
▪ — Cost of Raising a Child Calculator