Childcare Costs

Recent news in Yahoo.com stated that families in the USA, who earned between $57,000 and $99,000, spend roughly $221,000 on child related costs. The figures came from a USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (United States Department of Agriculture) report recently.

Families who earn less will spend less money whereas families who earn more will tend to spend more on the child up to the age of 17. The numbers calculated do not take into consideration the costs for childbearing and putting your child through college or university.

The amount of $221,000 is the cost for one child, two kids mean $442,000 and three kids come up to $663,000. Factor in the cost of a tertiary education and spending $1 million dollars to raise your kids is not unusual. Raising a child in Malaysia will similarly require high expenses.

Have a financial plan

Hence when it comes to family planning, financial planning is also a must. The three biggest expenses for a family are housing, food and child care and education costs. Early preparation is necessary, meaning you have to start saving money once you join the work force or earn an income.

I have three children to support and the normal expenses are on food, medical fees, school fees or expenditures, transportation fees, tuition fees and insurance fees. In addition, there are also entertainment cost, expenses for clothing or apparels, gifts or presents and money for their education fund.

I have seen big families with five or more children, where due to financial constraints, the children stop schooling after high school or secondary school and start to look for a job. I believe it all depends on the parents to make the proper decision on how they plan to raise the children.

More children=bigger responsibility

Personally, having more children means carrying a bigger responsibility in providing a comfortable life for them. On top of that, parents must also ensure that savings for their old age is well taken care off as we do not want to burden our children later on. On the other hand, parents do not want to raid their retirement or old age fund in order to fund their children through college. Therefore, plan carefully to achieve a proper balance and to make the correct decisions where child care and money is concerned. The message here is do not underestimate the costs related to childcare, raising your children and putting them through school.