Research shows cost of bringing up a child in the UK rises to £230,000

The UK Centre for Economics and Business Research has released research calculating the estimated cost of raising a child born this year to the age of 21. The figure has increased since 2003 by 65% to £231,843. Unsurprisingly this figure rises to £373,000 with the inclusion of private schooling and is even higher for boarding school children. Break-downs of the estimated costs include: £70,466 for childcare and babysitting, £74,430 for education and £19,004 for food. The research also shows that some child-related costs are rising at a higher rate than wages and inflation. For example, childcare costs have risen by 4.3% in the last year while inflation has risen by 0.2% and wages by 2%. The research shows that children aged 1-4 are the most expensive and that the average UK parent will be spending over a third of their take-home pay on one child.