How Much Does A Newborn Cost

What Is The Cost Of Having A Baby

For many expectant parents, one question looms above everything else: how much does it cost to have a baby? While you might be tempted to forget about this to focus on more exciting things like decorating your nursery and buying all the new clothes the baby will need, its an important thing to think about. Both pregnancy and birth require a lot of medical attention. In other words, you wont be charged for the birth alone. The pregnancy itself is filled with costs that accompany the numerous doctors visits, tests and procedures you may have. Therefore, youll want to make sure you have enough financial cushion before you decide to have a child. If youre preparing to grow your family, you may want to consider enlisting the services of a financial advisor.

Impact Of Program Quality On The Cost Of Infant And Toddler Child Care

While the costs above represent a program meeting minimum state licensing standards, many providers offer lower teacher-student ratios or group sizes than required by licensingespecially in states where ratios are particularly high and do not align with developmentally appropriate best practice.22 In addition, using average child care salaries embeds current low wages in the model, producing a cost estimate that relies on an underpaid workforce.

Early childhood teachers have long been undervalued, and child care is one of the lowest-paid professions in the United States the average early childhood teacher makes just $10.72 per hour.23 Teachers of infants and toddlers fare even worse, earning $2 less per hour, on average, than teachers serving children ages 3 to 5, even when they have the same credentials.24 In addition, the gender and racial inequities that exist in the broader U.S. labor force are reflected in the early childhood field: 40 percent of the workforce are women of color, and African American teachers are disproportionally more likely to work with infants and toddlers.25

As shown in Figure 3, the average monthly cost of center-based infant child care increases by nearly $1,000 once these quality improvements are accounted for.

Table 7 in the Appendix summarizes the results of the high-quality care model for each state.

Impact of program characteristics on the cost of infant and toddler child care

Delivery And Prenatal Care

Delivery costs vary depending on where you live.

For example, giving birth in a hospital without insurance costs approximately $8,300 in Arkansas but this amount may be closer to $20,000 in New York state, according to an article in The American Journal of Managed Care. The average cost for a person with employer-sponsored healthcare is $13,811.

Of that amount, you might pay between $1,000 to $2,500 out of pocket if you have insurance. Higher cost delivery is associated with cesarean delivery. Of course, there are also other factors, like provider type and location .

Alternatives include:

Home birth

A home birth on its own is virtually free. However, its a good idea to hire a midwife.

It may cost anywhere between $1,500 to $5,000, and this cost is usually not covered by any type of health insurance.

Keep in mind that even if you plan a home birth, theres always a chance that emergencies may require you to go to a hospital, and pay all the associated costs.

Birthing center

If youd like an alternative to a hospital birth that isnt in your living room, a birthing center may fit the bill. Here, youll be encouraged to birth without intervention and may even go home within hours of delivery.

The cost is generally somewhere between the cost of a home birth and hospital birth. If you have insurance, it may be covered.

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What Is The Average Medical Cost Of Having A Baby

For EU citizens, the upfront medical cost of having a baby is close to zero as most countries have a form of universal healthcare, that typically means healthcare costs are covered through taxes. There may be some additional costs to consider depending where you live, such as medication prescription costs, having your partner stay over or even for private healthcare if thats your preference. Public healthcare across Europe is typically very good.

Previous Carecom Cost Of Care Surveys

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What If You Dont Have Insurance

If you dont have insurance, then youll need to pay for your pregnancy-related expenses out of your own pocket.

The bad news is that you can expect the birth to cost between $3,000 and $5,000 more than it would with insurance.

The good news is that the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010, made it illegal for insurance companies to count pregnancy as a pre-existing condition. That means you cant be denied coverage because youre pregnant, nor can an insurance company raise your premiums because of a pregnancy.

We Calculated How Much A Baby’s First Year Costs And You Might Want To Sit Down

Only you can determine when you’re ready to have a baby, but in addition to just feeling ready, your wallet also has to be prepared. In news that every single person ever knows, babies aren’t cheap. Beyond fulfilling those basic baby needs like food, shelter, and more diapers than you could ever imagine, you’ll also be investing in baby gear, nursery decor, and cute onesies to put on a continuous rotation due to all the spit-up. And that’s not even taking into consideration the future years of soccer uniforms, school supplies, and gulp college funds. But how much do just those first 12 months cost after bringing a baby home?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been tracking the cost of raising a child since 1960, examining expenses by age of child, household income, and region of the country. According to the most recent data from the Expenditures on Children by Families report in 2017, a married, two-child, middle-income family will spend approximately between $12,350 and $13,900 in the first year of their younger child’s life. If you take into account an average annual inflation rate of 2.2 percent, as well as the fact that one-child households spend an average of 27 percent more on the single child, that $12,350 could be nearly $17,000 in a one-child, middle-income household in 2020.

Also Check: What To Do With A Newborn All Day

Child Care Providers Are Harder To Come By In Some Areas

• 26% of residents in small town or rural areas are especially likely to say finding a provider is very difficult, compared to 10% who live in the suburbs,15% who live in a small city and 11% who live in major cities.
• 20% of those located in the Western United States are most likely to have their child care provider permanently closed or unavailable post-pandemic.

The Cost Of Prenatal Care

Medical Expenses:14,000Doctors Visits:15,750Sonographies20,000 Maternity Clothing: 18,000. Grocery32.283 Pre-birth Rituals: 20,000 Optional Expenses

Also Check: Can You Give Newborns Probiotics

Breastfeed To Save On Formula

I know not everyone is able, or choses to breastfeed, but this can really help with your finances because formula can be quite expensive and youll need a lot of it each month. Breastfeeding is free food for your baby. FREE.

I know breastfeeding is very hard and can be painful , and sometimes babies require certain formulas due to allergies as much as you try to make it work. Do the best with what you can and be prepared to change plans if you need to. This is where an emergency baby fund can help if you run into extra expenses.

Determine If You Can Live Off A Single Income Or Not

Once you have a snapshot of your expenses and money flow, you now have a better idea of where your money is going and how much of it you have left each month. Fingers crossed for a surplus!

• Look at your annual baby expenses and divide it into monthly chunks.
• Keep in mind some of the costs such as labor & delivery may need to be paid quickly and wont be a monthly expense unless you need to go on a payment plan, and then they would. The more you can get the big stuff out of the way, the less monthly expenses youll have.
• First, look at your budget as a two-income family. Add in the monthly baby costs to this budget and see if you have money left-over, or youre over budget.
• Next, look at your budget based on a single income. Add in the monthly baby costs to this budget and see where the numbers fall.

Now, its time to evaluate what happens after baby arrives based on these two strategic budgets.

Are you a two-income family who wants to remain this way, or shift to a one-income family once your baby is here?

Now that you know what the big picture of your budget looks like, you can take an honest approach to answering these questions:

Recommended Reading: What To Do For Congested Newborn

Month 1 The Biggest Baby Expenses

The first month of your baby’s life may be the priciest, because it includes maternity care, the cost of delivery, postnatal care, and a hospital stay.

The numbers can vary depending on where you live, what kind of birth you have, and your insurance policy. While birthing costs in some states can exceed $27,000 the average cost is usually around $10,000.

How Much Does A Newborn Baby Cost

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Similarly one may ask, how much does a baby cost per month on average?

The average baby goes through six to 10 diapers a day, which, according to the National Diaper Bank Network, can set you back $70 to $80 per month, or about $900 a year. If you choose not to breastfeed, formula can cost up to $150 per month, or about $1,800 a year.

Secondly, how much money should you have saved before having a baby? First, you‘ll probably have to pay some out-of-pocket expenses for your pre-natal care and delivery, even if you have insurance. A normal pregnancy typically costs between $30,000 and $60,000 depending on whether you need special care or a C-section.

People also ask, how much does a baby cost per month 2019?

According to a Care.com survey, the average weekly childcare cost for a baby in 2019 is $199 for a family care center, $211 for a daycare center, and $596 for a nanny, which equals out to a range of $796 per month to $2,384 per month.

How much do babies cost?

The cost of having a baby isn’t cheap in the United States, at least. The average cost to have a baby in the US, without complications during delivery, is $10,808 which can increase to $30,000 when factoring in care provided before and after pregnancy.

Read Also: How To Put Your Newborn To Sleep

Maternity And Paternity Leave

Having a baby isnt just expensive because of all the things you have to buy. If youre working, it will also mean theres less money coming in.

• lasts 52 weeks
• only 39 weeks have to be paid
• after the first six weeks, the amount you receive may fall from 90% of your earnings to just £151.20 per week
• some companies offer more, so check with HR department

As long as your partner has been in their job for nine months, they should qualify for two weeks of paternity leave on at least £151.20 per week.

Some employers offer full pay during the fortnight so do check.

, which allows couples to split 50 weeks of leave before their babys first birthday, is also worth considering.

How Much Do Babies Cost

Some studies show that new parents spend $10,000 in their babys first year of life. Its easy to see how the costs add up when you consider how many initial, upfront costs there are to having a child the extra furniture like a crib and car seat, and the clothes for your child.

Then there are the ongoing costs those endless nappies and bottles of baby food.

However, as you can see from the variety of costs listed below, it can be more or less expensive depending on your choice of product and whether you view certain items as essential or not. For example, a bouncy seat might be a luxury in your household, or it might be a vital lifesaver.

And if brand new is not overly important to you, many of the things your baby needs can be bought second-hand from op shops, on Gumtree or even donated for free from friends and family with kids who are growing out of the baby stage.

The cost of a baby also decreases with each one you have, since you already have those initial needs sorted .

Finally, dont forget that you may be eligible for government-assisted benefits such as paid maternity leave , and the Family Allowance payment .

So dont panic. Now is the perfect time to figure out what your financial situation is now and what it will be after your baby is born.

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Average Cost Of Childcare

In the UK the cost to send a child under the age of two to nursery is:

• £138 a week part-time
• £263 a week full-time .

Source: Family and Childcare Trust 2020

Costs do vary however depending on the option you choose, for example a childminder or a day nursery.

There is also free early childcare for all three and four-year-olds in the UK. In England theres 570 hours free every year, which most use as 15 hours free each week for 38 weeks.

A further 15 hours are available bringing the total to 30 hours each week, for families where:

• both parents are working , and
• each parent earns at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum or living wage, and earns less than £100,000 a year.