Cost of raising a child jumped 3.5% in 2011

Raising a child got about $8,000 more expensive in 2011 than it did a year earlier, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As CNNMoney reports, middle-income families with a child born in 2011 can expect to spend $235,000 over 17 years. That cost factors in food, shelter and other necessities to raise a child, and does not account for inflation. It also marks a whopping $8,000 increase, or 3.5% rise, in just one year. So why do babies born in 2011 cost so much more to raise? In that one year alone, expenses for transportation, child care, education and food surged for middle-income families. Health care, clothing and housing costs also increased but at a more gradual pace. In the study, the government defines middle-income families as those with $59,000 to $103,000 in annual income before taxes. Lower-income families can expect to spend less—to the tune of about $169,000 over 17 years—while higher-income families can expect to spend more: roughly $390,000. The USDA has been estimating the cost of raising a child since 1960. The first year the report was issued, the agency estimated it cost an average of $25,000 (or roughly $192,000 now, adjusted for inflation) to raise a child to age 17. See a pie chart of the cost of raising a child at the CNNMoney website here.