Food, Shelter Costs Projected for Family

June 13, 2001

USDA says a family with a child born in 2000 can expect to spend about $165,630 ($233,530 when factoring in inflation) for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise that child over the next 17 years. Now in its 40th year, the USDA has issued the report, "Expenditures on Children by Families." Of primary interest to states is the child-rearing cost estimate for middle-income, two-parent families, which in 2000 ranged from $8,740 to $9,860, depending on the age of the child.

The report, compiled by USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, notes that family income affects child rearing costs with low-income families projected to spend $121,230; middle-income families $165,630; and upper-income families $241,770 (all in 2000 dollars) over a 17-year period. In 1960, a middle-income family could expect to spend $25,230 to raise a child through age 17.

Since 1960, expenses on children have changed considerably. Food declined from 24% to 18% of total child-rearing costs, while child care and education expenses increased from 1% to 10%. Housing was the single largest expenditure on a child in 2000, averaging 33% of the total costs over 17 years, compared with 32% in 1960. In real dollars, the overall cost of raising a child has increased 13% from 1960 to 2000.

The report notes geographic variations in the cost of raising a child, with expenses the highest for families living in the urban west, followed by the urban northeast and urban south. Families living in the urban midwest and all rural areas have the lowest child-rearing expenses.