Economic Argument for Having More Kids

Have annoying siblings that you have to deal with? How about another, to make your life crazier?

According to the USA Today, raising a single child from birth through the age of 18 costs a little under $22,700, give or take. This is beyond the current median price of a house in theUnited Statesjust to raise one baby. If the child is willing to attend college, the money increases to about $1 million to raise a child from birth to four years in college. The United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, estimates that low-income families with a salary of $57,600 per household will probably spend $163,440 less on a child. However, those on the wealthier side with an income of $ 99,730 and above will most likely spend $37,040 more than the average.

Think it is way too expensive to have kids? But when the issue is broken down, having more kids actually saves you more money than you think. Laura Vanderkam, author of the book All the Money in the World: What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending, states that having a second child adds $10,660 to the amount spent on the first child. It’s not that each child uses $22,700, but less is added to the amount spent on the first child. Then, when a third child comes along, only $4,580 is added to the total.

Compared to the initial amount of money spent, when more kids are added to the family, you spend less than you did on the first child. According to researchers, this happens when a family of more than one child spends 25% less on the next child and so on. Therefore, families don’t necessarily multiply the average amount by the number of kids. Although the first child is costly, after a next child and another, dealing with money becomes easier than you think. Having more kids may be more costly than not having one at all, but you don’t lose as much as you think. Rather, you save more than you did on the first child.