The High Cost of Parenting

As we know, kids aren't cheap.

I have two young ones and the amount of money spent each week on simple items like groceries and clothes is amazing. A pair of shoes come and go faster than the season changes, while long pants tend to turn to crop pants within months.

Los Angeles based IBISWorld found that the price of parenting might just be higher than we thought. From the moment of conception until the age of 18, a child costs a parent on average $227,862, or $12,658 a year!

Those who make less than $45,000 per year will spend about $156,469 on their kiddo while those earning over $75,000 per year will shell out a whopping $312,286!

And then comes college and weddings, of course.

Where does all of this money go?

35% gets put into housing while 17% is eaten up by the little critters (and I think in some houses, like mine, that number might be even a little higher!)

Education gets about 11% of this cost, though private school has not been factored into this average; those with children who head off to a school that requires tuition are actually paying more during the child-rearing years than those whose children receive public education.

Toon van Beeck, senior analyst for IBISWorld, says that this recession will push children back into their family homes longer. Lack of jobs, the high cost of living and increasing tuitions make it tough for young adults to get out into the world and started at an earlier age. This, of course, means more expense for mom and dad to foot.

Where you are raising your children factors into this cost as well. Those with roots out west pay the most for child rearing expenses, more than 8.1% the national average, while those residing in the south fall in around the average. Northeners are nestled between these two, paying about 4.9% more than the national average.