True cost of raising a child

David Roberts, CPA, shares financial advice for parents on the average overall cost of raising a child rom birth to age 18
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True cost of raising a child

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The cost to raise a child from birth to age 18 is on many parents minds. An interesting statistic: Back in 1960, the Department of Agriculture had a census. They said it costs $25,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18. Now what does it cost? They did the same study in 2010, I think it was 3,000 families across the country. It now costs $227,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18. You have to understand, that is what parents spend, not the raw costs. Spending is discretionary. You may have summer programs. You may have vacations. So the cost could really be less than that, substantially less. For those of you who have small families, even the cost of $600 a month to feed and clothes and daycare, is not a lot of money. If you had $600 a month, that adds up to $130,000 for that 18 year period.

David Roberts, CPA, shares financial advice for parents on the average overall cost of raising a child rom birth to age 18

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David Roberts

CPA

David Roberts has five children and lives in Southern California with his wife Cynthia, their dog Lucy, and cat named Cooper. Dave has always singled out being an involved parent as his most important life’s work while managing the job responsibilities of being managing partner of his CPA firm, RBZ, LLP in West Los Angeles.

 

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Transcription: 
The cost to raise a child from birth to age 18 is on many parents minds. An interesting statistic: Back in 1960, the Department of Agriculture had a census. They said it costs $25,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18. Now what does it cost? They did the same study in 2010, I think it was 3,000 families across the country. It now costs $227,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18. You have to understand, that is what parents spend, not the raw costs. Spending is discretionary. You may have summer programs. You may have vacations. So the cost could really be less than that, substantially less. For those of you who have small families, even the cost of $600 a month to feed and clothes and daycare, is not a lot of money. If you had $600 a month, that adds up to $130,000 for that 18 year period.