Skyrocketing Costs Of Child Care: 1960 to Today

1960
> Total Cost to Raise Child (Not Inflation Adjusted): $25,229
> Total Cost to Raise Child (Inflation Adjusted for 2011 dollars): $192,497
> Cost of Food (Inflation Adjusted 2011 Dollars): $46,108
> Cost of Medical Care (Inflation Adjusted 2011 Dollars): $8,103
> Cost of Housing (Inflation Adjusted 2011 Dollars): $60,215

In the 1960s, the Baby Boom generation were children and young adults. The population had jumped 18.5% since the fifties, the largest increase in the country since 1900-1910 – it remains the largest to this day. In the U.S., home prices were quite low, and new parents were moving to the suburbs to raise their children. A new home cost roughly $13,000, or $99,000 in 2011 dollars. According to the USDA’s report, the cost of raising a child was very inexpensive. Even adjusted for inflation, if prices in 1960 remained the same, housing a child through the age of 17 would cost just $60,215. Food for children was more expensive than it would be in any other decade through 2010. Feeding a six-year old child for a year cost more than $1,860 in 2011 dollars – $400 more than it costs today. A gallon of milk in 1960 cost $0.95, the equivalent of nearly $7 today. At the time, food accounted for nearly 25% of all costs. Meanwhile, child care, education, and health care combined for just 6%. This would change a great deal over the next half century.

Click Image For Larger Chart of Total Expenses For Raising a Child

USDA: Expenditures On Children By Family (2010)

1970
>Total Cost to Raise Child (Not Inflation Adjusted): $32,830
> Total Cost to Raise Child (Inflation Adjusted for 2011 dollars): $191,070
> Cost of Food (Inflation Adjusted 2011 Dollars): $45,221
> Cost of Medical Care (Inflation Adjusted 2011 Dollars): $9,428
> Cost of Housing (Inflation Adjusted 2011 Dollars): $60,528

At the start of the 1970’s, the United States was still riding the prosperity of the post-war boom. Although the oil crisis in 1973 precipitated severe economic troubles throughout the decade, the economy was still prosperous in 1970. The cost of raising a child had changed little from the previous decade, with the exception of the cost of transportation decreasing more than 4% from 1960. As was the case ten years prior, food and housing combined for the majority of expenses. A carton of eggs cost the equivalent of $6.72 in today’s dollars. A new home cost roughly $150,000, also inflation-adjusted. As it was in 1960, the costs of raising a child were about 30% housing, 24% food, and 10% clothing. Health care accounted for just 5% of total costs.

1980
> Total Cost to Raise Child (Not Inflation Adjusted): $69,333
> Total Cost to Raise Child (Inflation Adjusted for 2011 dollars): $188,585
> Cost of Food (Inflation Adjusted 2011 Dollars): $46,781
> Cost of Medical Care (Inflation Adjusted 2011 Dollars): $9,743
> Cost of Housing (Inflation Adjusted 2011 Dollars): $62,630

The mid-seventies and the oil crisis marked the end of the postwar boom in the United States, and the country went through the worst economic conditions since the great depression. In 1980, gas prices fluctuated around $1.25, the equivalent of $3.40 in 2011. It would peak at $3.53 in current dollars in March 1981. Prices would not reach this point aging for the remaining century. As fuel prices spiked, so did the costs of heating a home and driving children to school. Between 1970 and 1980, the cost of transportation increased 3.9%, inflation adjusted. This was a greater increase than any other category considered by the USDA. The costs of housing and transporting a child increased both in amount and proportion of the total spending. At this point, it cost more than $3,300 in 2011 dollars each year to house an eight year old child – heating costs were likely a factor in this.