Cost of Rearing a Child Rises to $234,000

Having kids is expensive, as if parents needed to be told that. But the US government issued a report today quantifying just how expensive: For a child born now, it will cost an average of $234,900 to raise them, and that's just to age 18.

The total cost is up 3.5 percent from a year ago, according to the US Department of Agriculture report. Child care and education, transportation and food had the biggest cost jumps.

Costs vary by family income. A typical family earning less than $59,410 a year will spend $169,080 in 2011 dollars to rear a child, but parents who make over $102,870 will pay $389,670, according to the study.

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