A child born in 2011 may cost $234,900 to raise

A middle-income family could end up spending around $234,900 to raise a child who was born in 2011, according to a report from the government.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that middle-income families may spend $234,900 on raising a child from birth to 18, if they were born in 2011. This is 3.5 percent higher than the previous year. According to Bloomberg, the report gave some reasons for the big jump. Some of those reasons included expenses for food, child care and education. The department also adjusted the amount of money to reflect inflation, and the department said that it may cost a middle-income family around $295,560 due to inflation. According to The Columbia Dispatch, this amount does not even include college. Parents can expect to spend around $12,290-$14,320 a year on a child. According to Delta Farm Press, this is the 51st report (on the cost of raising a child) that the USDA has put out. When the USDA released their first report back in 1960, it said that it would have ran a middle class family around $25,230 to raise a child up until they reached the age of 17. Back then housing was the biggest expense and it is still the biggest expense today. The more kids a family has the more the expenses per child decreases. Families who have three or more kids spend about 22 percent less per kid than families who only have two children. When families have more children they can have them share clothing, toys and bedrooms and these are some of the reasons why families who have three or more children tend to spend less than families who only have two children or less.