The Cost of Parenthood on the Rise Again

Raising a baby is priceless....or is it?   A new report out today indicates the cost of bringing that "bundle of joy" into adulthood is costing more and more each year.

MSN.com is reporting today the results of the federal government's new Agriculture Department's "Expenditures on Children and Families"  report.  It finds parents paying nearly 2 percent more to raise a child to adulthood than last year.

The costs, estimated at $245, 340, included food, housing, childcare and education.  When adjusting for projected inflation, the report found that a child born last year could cost a middle-income family more than $304,000!

In 1960, the first year the report was issued, the cost was $25, 230 dollars per child.

The expenses did not include college tuition.

The report also found those in the Northeast are paying a heavier financial burden and families with three or more children spent more than 20-percent less on child-rearing than couples with only two children.

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