Children can enrich their parents’ lives with love and laughter, but the financial needs associated with raising a child can make a parent’s wallet run empty. From simply supplying them with their basic needs like housing and food to paying for their extensive educational expenses, Arizona children can be a challenge to afford. The overall cost of caring for a child through its youth can reach into six digit figures.
In fact, the United States Department of Agriculture recently released a report that claims the average cost of raising a child to adulthood in the United States now stands at $233,610. Different areas of the country have higher and lower averages based on the varying costs of living throughout the nation and the average was compiled based on data collected through 2015.
Providing a roof over a child’s head accounted for some of the biggest costs associated with child rearing, as parents often have to purchase or rent larger residential spaces when they have kids. Additionally, paying for child care for working parents also increased the average and accounted for a bulk of the evaluated child raising costs.
Children can, in some respects, become more expensive as they age as their consumable needs increase in terms of the food that they need and the clothing they must wear. For a parent who must pay child support, all of these financial needs must be considered when a court decides on a reasonable monthly payment amount for the obligated individual.
Parents who pay child support provide a necessary and important service to their offspring. However, as discussed by this post the needs of kids can change over time. Parents who pay child support and who believe that their kids may benefit from a modification to their support orders can petition the courts for a change to the terms of the child support mandate.
Source: money.cnn.com, “It costs $233,610 to raise a child,” Kathryn Vasel, Jan. 9, 2017
