Childcare is an expensive affair nearly all over America. A Department of Labor analysis showed that childcare costs families around eight percent of their income. Respondents in a recent poll, from either side of the political aisle, were strongly or somewhat supportive of legislation that would bolster affordable childcare.
Certain estimates currently put the price of raising a child in the US at around $20,000 annually. To determine how that differed across the US, SmartAsset used MIT's Living Wage Calculator to analyze the differences between America's biggest metro areas.
Key Takeaways:
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In the US, the most conservative estimates for the annual cost of raising a child is $14,577.
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Childcare usually accounts for half of the costs of raising a child, and it's estimated to cost Americans on average $754 per month, (or $9,051 annually.)
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Individually, some of America's highest childcare costs are north of $17,800 per year, and were found in the Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo-Portage metro areas in Michigan and the Barnstable Town and Boston-Cambridge-Newton metro areas in Massachusetts.
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Food costs were highest in California's metro areas, including the SF-Oakland-Berkeley metro, where bills were estimated to be $2,111 per year.
Via Smart Asset.
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