A recent study found it costs parents $300,000 to raise a child in the United States, as inflation spiked nationally to a 40-year high, according to the report.
Research conducted by the Brookings Institution found that the cost of paying for a child to finish high school, or until age 17 to 18, is estimated at $310,605, or $18,271 per year.
For comparison, in 2021, the average cost of raising a child born to an average-income couple is about $267,000 ($2021 in 2021) over an 18-year period, or more than $14,800 a year for a typical two-child household. , according to a US News & World Report.
The study was based on findings from middle-class couples with two children in the family. The younger of those two children, hypothetically born in 2015, would cost more than a quarter of a million dollars to raise.
Meanwhile, the inflation rate is nearing a four-decade high, with parents forced to pay more for everything from childcare to milk and cereal.
The cost of raising a child through high school has reached more than $300,000, according to estimates by the Brookings Institution, as inflation is nearing a four-decade high. https://t.co/k84F70Fsy8 via @rinatorchi pic.twitter.com/IwmIYaRA3v
– Akane Otani (@akaneotani) August 19, 2022
Birth rate down 20% since 2007, study finds
At the same time, birth rates across the U.S. have continued to decline since 2007. While 2021 sees a small spike in births, economists say it still doesn’t include much. decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which broke out a year earlier.
As of 2020, the birth rate in the US is 55.8 births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44, down nearly 20% from the rate of 69.3 in 2007, according to a February report. 2022.
The number of young adults who say they are unable or completely incapable of having children has increased from 37% to 44% between 2018 and 2022, according to the Pew Research Center.
The American Economic Association said “shifting priorities” as a possible culprit related to birth rates.
“We surmise that the ‘shifting preferences’ of the more recent cohorts, reflecting changes in childbearing preferences, life aspirations, and parenting standards, may be responsible for .”
The rate of inflation disproportionately affects black families, who earn 30 percent less than white households
Research shows that inflation has made parenting more difficult for Black families, who experience more price volatility or price swings hindering budgeting efforts than they do. with non-Black households, the study found.
Last year, Forbes reported that black households earn 30 percent, or about $10,000, less than white households,
And the median annual salary of all U.S. workers is about $42,000, while 43 percent of Black workers earn less than $30,000 per year.
Earlier this week, President Biden and congressional Democrats passed a law aimed at reducing costs for black Americans and their families, according to The White House.
The Inflation Reduction Act would reduce health care costs, including prescription drug costs, and expand health insurance coverage for Black families.
