The Agriculture Department, which publishes an annual report on what American parents spend on their children, estimated in 2011 that a middle-income couple spent $12,290 to $14,320 a year on a child, depending on the child’s age and where they lived.
OK, this is good news. Divided by two partners, this means that a child costs one of them only about $7K per year. Eminently doable. Given that there is absolutely nowhere you can invest this money to get any sort of return nowadays while a child will feed you for decades after you reach old age, this is actually a phenomenal investment.
Of course, the stupid, hysteria-mongering NYTimes sees this as “expensive”, “extreme” and “enormous”, but what do you expect from from the mainstream media?
Clarissa's Blog 
It’s only eminently NOT doable if you don’t already have a stable job that will be enough to pay the rent and aren’t working at Starbucks because you didn’t major in an economically viable subject like Captain Capitalism wrote about in Worthless. I wonder who The New York Times was aiming this article at? People lacking any common sense whatsoever? What idiocy. Don’t have kids if you know you can’t afford them. Problem solved.
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Of course, people who don’t have a stable job would be extremely irresponsible to have children. But there is hardly a need to mention something so self-evident.
“I wonder who The New York Times was aiming this article at? People lacking any common sense whatsoever?”
– That’s who the NYTimes usually aims its article at. 🙂
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The wondrous ways of Washington strike again. Why is this published by United States Department of Agriculture? I know raising kids includes food as an expense, but still, wouldn’t the Department of Health and Human Services be a better pick?
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Probably the chicken -hatching analogy played a role. 🙂
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Well… I’m a heartless child who does not feed his parents who have reached an old age. Honestly, I am very individualistic, and for that reason my parents have to take care of themselves, and find money to do so. Sometimes I help them around the house, but only because I am lucky enough to live near them,
Also, I do not want my son to ‘feed me’ when I reach an old age. Brrrr…
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Well, of course, if you don’t want him to feed you, that’s your right. 🙂 But I have to admit that my “child” helped me out financially a lot when I was in grad school and she was already working. Obviously, I returned everything I borrowed, but in the moment, this was invaluable help.
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Wanting to have kids so they can take care of you when you’re older is so selfish. Do you know the potential for kids to suffer nowadays is? Everything from hunger, to being bullied/threatened for years thru school.
Sure they can have a good life, but that requires a LOT of work from you, as well as money. Why not just TAKE that money and save it instead to feed your own ass when you’re old?
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And not having a sense of humor is unfortunate.
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