You're eating me out of house and home. Remember that tired expression? Well, if the latest reports are anything to go by, you'll be saying it before long, as the cost of raising a kid through to adulthood today is crazier than ever—as in $250K kind of crazy.
According to an article in the Washington Post, by the time your beautiful baby turns 18, you will have spent $245,340 on "food, housing, childcare, education, and other expenses."
The US Department of Agriculture's new report (based on data from the Labor Department’s Consumer Expenditure Survey) shows a 1.8 percent increase from 2013, with the annual cost of caring for a kid coming in anywhere from $12,800 to $14,970.
Housing accounts for the biggest chunk of the bill, at 30 per cent, with childcare and education, food, and transport costing 18 per cent, 16 per cent, and 14 per cent respectively.
Parents in the States are spending more on childcare and education than the '60s.
With the most insane taxation rates of (probably) any Western country, I expect much the same here in Canada.
We all love our kids and they are worth every penny, dime, and nickel, but let's pause for a second, shall we, and ponder that $250K?
Feel free to muse below about what you'd do with a quarter of a million dollars and no small hands dipping into your wallet.
Kids have come to expect it, yet this summer activity can break the bank.
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