Every year or so you see some version of this story. It costs one gazillion dollars to raise a child. The implication, its just not worth it. Example.
New research suggests that people may exaggerate the perks of being parents to rationalize the financial costs of raising children.
Two studies, featured in the journal Psychological Science, measured more than 140 parents’ feelings after being presented with information regarding the hefty bill of raising a child. In the Northeast, raising one child to the age of 18 costs nearly $193,000, according to the research.
Wow. $193,000 buckaroos? How do I put this politely? Horse hockey!
All you moms and dads out there of five or more children have an extra million bucks hanging around?
I have five children and I can tell you …. Continue Reading >>>
March 10, 2011 at 1:09 pm
How did people raise people before we had this informative study?
March 10, 2011 at 3:29 pm
I don't know about you, but my kids live on Ramen noodles…TOP RAMEN, that is. Nothing's too good for my babies. At $4.50 a case, it's a bargain. Mayonnaise also comes cheaper at the wholesale house…with double packs of bread.
I'm tired of the spoiled secular culture telling us what a "quality childhood" is. So my children aren't involved in the super-duper sports leagues and we still live in a rented duplex and we don't have a Wii. They still live a better material existence than 90% of the world, not that it matters. Better to go to heaven in off-brand tennis shoes than to go to hell in Nikes.
March 10, 2011 at 4:15 pm
My comment on the NCR:
I loved this article! I was raised in a family of seven children, and there’s no way my father made almost 1.5 million dollars, just to feed and clothe us. My mother knew how to be frugal (a virtue that is not often seen anymore in this day and age of instant gratification). She budgeted, and we learned that we weren’t going to always have the newest toy on the market. We didn’t have an SUV, we drove a station wagon. News flash—Sometimes being denied is actually good for the child, growing up learning the he or she isn’t going to always have exactly what they want when they want it. Hand-me-downs were always so exciting to us (I remember when people gave us bags of used clothes, my sisters and I would go nuts), and that family vacation every once in a while was so much more special because it didn’t happen all the time. Trips to a fancy restaurant were also rare and therefore appreciated all the more. Living in the city now and eating out all the time, I can say that what I really miss are those good home-cooked meals!
I think my parents did it right. And, being the oldest child, when I try to think of which of my siblings I would have rather gone without, my mind draws a blank. Big families are a boon to our society, not a burden. It’s the single child homes where the bratty kid is raised to be a spoiled adult that gives to the world the unfortunate idea that children are all brats rather than blessings.
March 10, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Bet the cost assumes brand-name everything, sports, fresh fruit, new breast-pump for each kid, pre-made everything food and daycare from ~6months on– or they might pull the "assume the stay-at-home would make the national average income each year" trick.
I'm a trained and experienced calibration technician with five years experience; with basic child care, assume I can get a cheap motorcycle to get to work, assume that I still cook two meals a day… I'd be working for well below minimum wage, and my daughter would be raised by someone else. When Kaboodle gets here, I'd be paying the daycare in order to spend hours in a high-stress work environment…. no amount of avoiding hassle from family, friends and random nosy strangers is worth that.
March 10, 2011 at 6:56 pm
I don't want to continue reading. I want to read it here.
March 11, 2011 at 12:48 am
Foxfier,
Don't knock fresh fruits and veggies. My kids live on them. We have a grocery store that throws all the 'not pretty' produce into bags labeled $.79. I can get five or six pounds of the stuff for under a dollar, which is actually cheaper than I can get any other form of food for… except like, flour.
March 11, 2011 at 1:01 am
*laughs* didn't mean to sound like I was knocking fresh produce, you just have to shop smart or it costs through the nose!
For example, we just had a three month period where Kit's main fruit was banana, because the stores keep having them for 49c/lb.; right now, the orchards are clearing out their fridges for the new season, so we're sharing a gala apple– about 80c a pound, but one of my faves– if I assume that Kit eats a pound of bananas, a pound of apples, a pound of soft fruit like peaches, that's five bucks a week minimum. (I don't know– can you GET peaches out of season?)
Oh, good heavens, there's another price-boost they may have done– only "organic."
March 11, 2011 at 1:25 am
Definitely shop smart. Like find a place where the not-quite-perfect fruit is discounted. The way I figure it, if my three don't finish it before it goes bad, I already saved enough that I can throw away that last half-banana. I can even get some out-of-season produce for those prices. What part of the country are you in?
March 11, 2011 at 1:27 am
Washington State– come summer, we are SET!
(Recently moved to the Damp Side, but there's an entire store on the way to Church that's discount produce– I just have to remember to 1] leave early and 2] stop.)
March 11, 2011 at 2:15 am
Beautiful country. Lived there for six years. I miss the mountains.
Good luck on the remembering part. It gets harder with each kid. I only remember to do something when it's a habit.
Happy shopping!