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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah parents know all too well that the cost of raising a child is tough on family budgets. But how much does the average child cost, and how will the growing numbers affect the lives of the next generation?
For starters, the average family will spend $13,200 on clothes for one child in the course of his or her life — and you know some parents spend a whole lot more than that.
In all, the USDA's 2011 Expenditures on Children by Families report says $226,920 will be spent per child, from birth to age 18, in the average two-parent family. That's almost a 40 percent increase over the last 10 years.
Marilyn Albertson at the Utah State University Extension Office says families cope in different ways, sometimes picking up an extra job on the side.
That's true for the Thompson family. Parents Heidi and Ryan split childcare duties: Heidi works during the day, and Ryan cares for their three kids and runs his photography business from home. He gets most of his work done at night.
"We managed to pay for three, so I guess we'll pull out a fourth. They may be paying for us later, so maybe it's an investment. Maybe I should look at it that way," Heidi joked.
Three of the biggest budget items for families include food, a whopping $36,000 for one child; housing, roughly $69,000 per child; and child care, which averages $39,000 a child.
For us, it's more a mutual decision that we had made early on that we wanted to be there for our children," Ryan said. "It is difficult, but to be honest with you I don't think we would change it for anything."
In addition to second jobs, parents are also coping with costs by making cuts to the family budget.
"I see families maybe cutting back, even on opportunities that they're allowing their children," Albertson said. "They may say, ‘Well, you can't participate in this many sports.'"
Ronnette Olsen sends her two teenage daughters to the Elite Academy for training in dance and cheerleading. She knows all about the high expenses related to sports.
"For both of my girls … my husband actually doesn't know (the cost), because he said he didn't want to know," Olsen said. "It costs about $6,000, I believe, a year; something close to that."
Olsen added that she and her husband sat down and discussed the issue, deciding that what their children gained through dance and cheerleading was more important than the money.
"The self-confidence, I mean the joy they get from what they love (means) we've been willing to maybe cut back on a few other things to make it work," she said.
"We have a lot of large families in the state of Utah, and we wonder: Will families choose to have smaller families? That's a question," Albertson said.
"It is expensive," Heidi Thompson said, "life is expensive. But kids are a good way to spend it I guess. I mean, we obviously think so. We're gonna have four."
"Well, what that tells me (is) with four kids I almost have a million dollars worth of children," Ryan Thompson said.
Most observers say more families will begin living under the same roof with grandparents and extended families to help cope with rising costs. Unfortunately, the 40 percent growth in raising kids for the last 10 years shows little sign of reversing.
