March 30, 2008 - Posted in "Zero to Six"
Million Dollar Babies
From Time Magazine, March 28
On Tuesday, the annual Expenditures on Children by Families report, which tracks how much it costs to raise a child in America, was released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(yes, that’s the government bureaucracy charged with this particular tally). According to its latest estimate, a child born in 2007 costs $204,060 to watch over, feed, cart around, educate and house from birth to the age of 18. This amounts to a ten-fold increase in less than 50 years. According to the USDA, child-rearing costs have soared since the department began its annual study in 1960, when raising a kid cost a mere $25,229.
While that may sound like a dramatic increase — and could in part explain why more families today are raising only children — it’s actually not much greater than the U.S. inflation rate over the same time period. But consider what the government figures don’t take into account, and the onerous repercussions for families nationwide. Take child care. According to the USDA, parents spend an average of $1,220 to $3,020 on child care and education during each of the first two years, depending on household income. Yet the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, a network of more than 805 child care centers nationwide, estimates the bill at $4,388 to $14,647 a year. In urban areas like New York City, where daycare centers are few and overcrowded, parents hire nannies at an average of $31,000 — and that’s off the books. Taxes, benefits and insurance can run an additional $6,000 a year. Part of the problem with the official figures is that half of the families surveyed for the government study don’t pay for child care at all; either a parent or family caregiver is doing the work for free. The government figures are therefore hugely misleading, as any parent footing a child care bill can attest.
For full article go to http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/
Wow! In comparison so far in Kingston Ontario its only around $12,000 a year for one full time child. Attaining quality child care in our Country is a complicated problem that needs multi level solutions.
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To this end, the Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU) has gathered pertinent documents available online and in print. CRRU will also develop and make available resources on this topic such as a comprehensive bibliography of key research. The project will be ongoing and the website will be updated on a regular basis….more about the project ”