Since 1960, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided estimates of expenditures on children from birth through age 17. This technical report presents the most recent estimates for husband-wife and single-parent families using data from the 2005-06 Consumer Expenditure Survey, updated to 2008 dollars using the Consumer Price Index.

Data and methods used in calculating annual child-rearing expenses are described. Estimates are provided for major components of the budget by age of child, family income, and region of residence.

For the overall United States, annual child-rearing expense estimates ranged between $11,610 and $13,480 for a child in a two-child, married-couple family in the middle-income group.

Adjustment factors for number of children in the household are also provided. Results of this study should be of use in developing State child support and foster care guidelines, as well as in family educational programs.

Download Expenditures on Children by Families, 2008

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Mark Lino, PhD
Andrea Carlson, PhD
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion

Miscellaneous Publication
Number 1528-2008. July 2009

SELECTED RESULTS
Child-rearing expenses vary considerably by household income level. For a child in a twochild, husband-wife family, annual expenses ranged from $8,330 to $9,450, on average, (depending on age of the child) for households with before-tax income less than $56,870, from $11,610 to $13,480 for households with before-tax income between $56,870 and $98,470, and from $19,250 to $22,960 for households with before-tax income more than $98,470.

As a proportion of total child-rearing expenses, housing accounted for the largest share across income groups, comprising 32 to 35 percent of total expenses on a child in a twochild, husband-wife family. For families in the middle-income group, food and child care/education (for those with the expense) were the next largest average expenditures on a child, each accounting for 16 percent of child-rearing expenses.

Annual expenditures on children generally increased with age of the child. This fact was the same for both husband-wife and single-parent families.

Overall annual child-rearing expenses were highest for husband-wife families in the urban Northeast, followed by families in the urban West and urban Midwest; families in the urban South and rural areas had the lowest child-rearing expenses.

Compared with expenditures on each child in a two-child, husband-wife family, expenditures by husband-wife households with one child average 25 percent more on the single child and expenditures by households with three or more children average 22 percent less on each child.

Child-rearing expense patterns of single-parent households with a before-tax income less than $56,870 were 7 percent lower than those of husband-wife households in the same income group. Most single-parent households were in this income group (compared with about one-third of husband-wife families).

Other Expenditures on Children
Expenditures for major budgetary components estimated in this study consisted of direct parental expenses made on children through age 17. These expenditures exclude college costs and other parental expenses on children after age 17. In addition, expenditures on children made by people outside the household and by the government are not included. Indirect costs involved in child rearing by parents (time costs and foregone earnings and career opportunities) are also not included in the estimates.

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