The cost of raising a child varies from country to country.

Developing countries

According to Globalissues.org, "Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day." This statistic

Statistic

A statistic is a single measure of some attribute of a sample . It is calculated by applying a function to the values of the items comprising the sample which are known together as a set of data.More formally, statistical theory defines a statistic as a function of a sample where the function...

 includes children. On this number, it costs roughly US$900 to raise a child for a year, and US$16,500 to raise a child from birth to age 17. Half of all children in the world live in poverty

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

.

United States

Based on a survey

Statistical survey

Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population using the sample. Polls about public opinion, such as political beliefs, are reported in the news media in democracies....

 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the table below shows the estimated annual costs of raising a child. The table shows costs based on a family with two children on a per-child basis. The data comes from the Consumer Expenditure Survey by the U.S. Department of Labor, conducted from 1990-92. The figures have been updated to 2001 dollars using the Consumer Price Index

Consumer price index

A consumer price index measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The CPI, in the United States is defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as "a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of...

.

These figures from the USDA go up to age 18, and do not include any college education. Nor does it offer any cost estimates if the child remains in the home as a dependent

Dependant

This article is related to law. For the personality trait, see Dependent Personality DisorderA dependant or dependent is a person who relies on another as a primary source of income...

 after the age of 18.

There are two tables, the first for two-parent households, the second for single-parent families

Single parent

Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver...

.

Dual-Parent Family

Age of Child	Housing House A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...	Food Food Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...	Transportation	Clothing Clothing Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...	Health Health Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...	Child care /Education Education Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...	Miscellaneous	Total
Before-tax income: up to $39,100
0 to 2	2,500	910	780	370	460	840	630	6,490
3 to 5	2,470	1,010	750	360	440	820	680	6,630
6 to 8	2,380	1,300	880	400	510	560	680	6,710
9 to 11	2,150	1,560	950	450	560	340	720	6,730
12 to 14	2,400	1,640	1,070	750	560	240	900	7,560
15 to 17	1,940	1,780	1,440	660	600	400	660	7,480
Total	41,520	24,600	17,610	8,970	9,390	9,990	12,720	124,800
Before-tax income: $39,100 to $65,800
0 to 2	3,380	1,090	1,160	430	610	1,380	980	9,030
3 to 5	3,350	1,260	1,130	420	580	1,530	990	9,260
6 to 8	3,260	1,600	1,260	470	660	980	1,030	9,260
9 to 11	3,030	1,890	1,330	520	720	640	1,250	9,190
12 to 14	3,280	1,900	1,450	870	720	470	1,250	9,940
15 to 17	2,820	2,110	1,840	780	770	810	1,010	10,140
Total	57,360	29,550	24,510	10,470	12,180	17,430	18,960	170,460
Before-tax income: $65,800 and up
0 to 2	5,370	1,440	1,630	570	700	2,090	1,630	13,430
3 to 5	5,340	1,630	1,600	560	670	2,270	1,650	13,720
6 to 8	5,250	1,970	1,720	610	770	1,560	1,690	13,570
9 to 11	5,020	2,290	1,800	670	820	1,090	1,720	13,410
12 to 14	5,270	2,400	1,920	1,100	830	840	1,900	13,170
15 to 17	4,810	2,530	2,330	1,000	870	1,470	1,660	14,670
Total	93,180	36,780	33,000	13,530	13,980	27,960	30,750	249,180

All numbers are in US dollars.

Reference:

Single-Parent Family

Age of Child	Housing	Food	Transportation	Clothing	Health	Child care /Education	Miscellaneous	Total
Before-tax income: up to $45,100
0 to 2	2,240	1,010	730	330	220	530	380	5,440
3 to 5	2,550	1,060	640	350	330	720	500	6,150
6 to 8	2,710	1,340	740	410	390	650	670	6,910
9 to 11	2,600	1,550	530	420	490	310	540	6,440
12 to 14	2,600	1,550	620	710	520	400	520	6,920
15 to 17	2,760	1,690	970	830	520	300	600	7,670
Total	46,380	24,600	12,690	9,150	7,410	8,730	9,630	118,590
Before-tax income: $45,100 and up
0 to 2	4,820	1,560	2,220	470	510	1,290	1,580	12,450
3 to 5	4,820	1,650	2,130	500	690	1,620	1,690	13,410
6 to 8	5,290	1,980	2,240	570	790	1,510	1,870	14,250
9 to 11	5,180	2,380	2,030	580	950	880	1,740	13,740
12 to 14	5,190	2,380	2,110	950	1,000	1,260	1,720	14,560
15 to 17	5,340	2,470	2,290	1,090	990	1,030	1,800	15,010
Total	92,850	37,110	39,060	12,480	14,790	22,770	31,200	250,260

All numbers are in US dollars.

Reference:

See also

• Only child
  Only child
  An only child is a person with no siblings, either biological or adopted. In a family with multiple offspring, first-borns, may be briefly considered only children and have a similar early family environment, but the term only child is generally applied only to those individuals who never have...
  
  
• Child support
  Child support
  In family law and public policy, child support is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child following the end of a marriage or other relationship...
  
  
• Childfree
  Childfree
  Childfree also known as "voluntary childlessness" is a form of childlessness. The term was coined in the English language late in the 20th century and is used to describe people who have made a personal decision not to have children. The term childfree also describes domestic and urban...
  
  
• Cost of living

• Demographic economics
  Demographic economics
  Demographic economics or population economics is the application of economics to demography, the study of human populations, including size, growth, density, distribution, and vital statistics.Analysis includes economic determinants and consequences of:...
  
  
• Family economics
  Family economics
  The family, although recognized as fundamental from Adam Smith on, received little systematic treatment in economics before the 1950s. A significant exception was Thomas Malthus's model of population growth. The work of Gary Becker and others initiated contemporary research on family economics ...
  
  
• Family planning
  Family planning
  Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
  
  

• Family values
  Family values
  Family values are political and social beliefs that hold the nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. Familialism is the ideology that promotes the family and its values as an institution....
  
  
• Single parent
  Single parent
  Single parent is a term that is mostly used to suggest that one parent has most of the day to day responsibilities in the raising of the child or children, which would categorize them as the dominant caregiver...
  
  
• Middle class squeeze
  Middle class squeeze
  The middle class squeeze is the situation where increases in wages fail to keep up with inflation for middle income earners, while at the same time, the phenomenon fails to have a similar impact on the top wage earners...
  
  

External links

• http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN2431320820080324