3 Financial Stats That Will Make You Reconsider Having Kids

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Raising kids is a labor of love — an expensive one. Check out these stats that may make you think twice about the cost. [[{“value”:”

Although many parents will tell you they wouldn’t trade their kids for any amount of money, the cold, hard fact of the matter is — that’s kind of the decision you’re making when you choose to have kids. Raising kids is expensive.

It would be utterly irresponsible to choose to have children without considering the financial implications. These three stats alone could be enough to make you think twice about your options.

1. It costs around $300,000 to raise a kid

Right off the bat, the cost of raising a child should give you pause. There are a lot of zeros in that total.

Worse, even if you break it down, it’s still a lot. You’re talking about $16,667 a year — $1,389 a month — for (at least) 18 years.

Sure, this is an estimate. But even if it’s half of that, you’re still talking about $700 a month, every month, for almost two decades (if you’re lucky).

Child care costs alone can eat into your budget like acid. One Care.com survey suggests the average parent spends 24% of their household income on child care. That’s nearly a quarter of your income gone before you start worrying about feeding, clothing, and entertaining your kids the rest of the time. (Fun fact: Kids’ sports can cost $2,000-plus a year!)

The other side: You don’t need to cut a $300,000 check the day you give birth. And there are lots of ways to reduce the costs of child-rearing, especially if you take the time to build a strong village before you have children.

In any case, yes, you’re going to need to invest a great deal of money to turn an infant into a functioning adult human. But all that money doesn’t just disappear; you get a person out of it. And the journey of watching that person evolve and grow can be very emotionally rewarding. (You may even get free stuff along the way, like a weird lopsided mug or some truly gross perfume.)

2. A four-year degree starts at $40,000

You finally get your kid to adulthood and you’re excited to see them work toward their own financial independence. Too bad most jobs require a college degree.

According to U.S. News, the average cost of one year of tuition and fees at a four-year college is over $10,000. And that’s for public, in-state university:

Public, in-state: $10,662Public, out-of-state: $23,630Private: $42,162

Multiply that by at least four (assuming your kid stays on track and doesn’t need a fifth year to finish up), and you’re looking at a minimum of $40,000 to get your kid a basic bachelor’s degree. (And that’s if they live at home the whole time!) That’s an awful lot of money to dredge up while you’re trying to save for retirement.

The other side: There are a lot of paths to a career these days. Your kids may skip college in favor of a trade or train-in-the-field career. (Or, you know, become a YouTube star.)

Even if college is the answer, there are ways to cut those costs, too. Scholarships and grants are one method. Community college (plus a job) is another great option. I’d also recommend setting up a college savings account when they’re born so you can get some help from our friend compound interest.

3. Around 57% of young people still live at home

According to the Current Population Survey from the U.S. Census, roughly 57% of young folks ages 18 to 24 are living at home with their parents. So that idea of getting your life back after they graduate high school — or even college? Not so much.

Moreover, you won’t be getting your bank account back, either. Unless you charge your kids rent, you’ll get stuck footing the bills for their everyday expenses. And the number we talked about earlier for the cost of raising a kid? Yeah, that one stops counting at 18. Anything after that is on top of the $300,000 you spent to get them there.

The other side: Multigenerational living has been the norm for most of human history, so there must be something to it. Indeed, one Pew Research survey suggests most people in multigenerational households find it to be at least convenient, and more than half say it’s even rewarding.

Realistically, as long as you have productive children, they actually can contribute to the household financially. You just need to make it clear what the expectations are — and follow up on them. Beyond that, young adults can take on most household tasks, freeing you from chores you dislike.

An individual decision

There are lots of scary stats out there about raising kids. And I get it — the world is a damn mess. But if it’s something you truly want to do, there are often ways to make it work, financially and otherwise. Low-income families have to work harder at it, that’s certainly true, but it’s not impossible.

There are pros and cons to both sides of the coin. In the end, the decision to have children (or not) is something only you can decide for yourself.

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