Average cost of raising a child in US hits USD 245,000

It will cost a middle-income couple in the US a whopping USD 245,000 to raise a child born in 2013 to the age of 18, according to newly released official estimates.
High-income families who live in the urban Northeast, for example, are projected to spend nearly USD 455,000 to raise their child to the age of 18, while low-income rural families will spend much less, an estimated USD 145,500, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a report.
The figure of USD 245,000 was up USD 4,260, or almost 2 per cent, from the year before, the report said.

The figures are based on the cost of housing, food, transportation, clothing, health care, education, child care and miscellaneous expenses, like haircuts and cell phones.
But the estimates does not include the cost of college -- a big-ticket expense that keeps rising, CNN reported.
The overall costs have grown more slowly in recent years thanks to low inflation, said economist Mark Lino, who has written the annual report for the USDA since 1987.

But many families are still having to do more with less.
The world's most developed country's median income remains more than 8 per cent below where it was before the recession, while child care and health care costs continue to grow faster than inflation.

Child care, in particular, is a huge burden -- often costing as much as the family home.
Rising transportation and food costs are also eating up a big chunk of family budgets. Gas prices have nearly doubled since 2004.
Meanwhile, food prices have increased more than 13 per cent since 2008, according to the USDA, and make up the third biggest child-rearing expense in the agency's estimate.
"Having a baby is a huge life change. You are going to have unexpected things come up," said Matt Becker, a financial planner who specialises in working with new parents.
"Having that extra savings can help a lot," Becker, founder of planning firm Mom and Dad Money said.