MSN Money has an interesting table that shows the cost of raising kids in America.  What’s very interesting is that they split the table by annual income for dual-parent households (up to $39,100, from $39,100-$65,800, $65,800 and up) and single parent households (up to $39,100, and over $39,100).  You can see that expenditures for kids go up in every category (housing, food, clothing, etc.) as you move up the income scale, which I guess isn’t too surprising.

Here’s the most interesting thing to me though: at every income level the amount spend on daycare/education went down as the children got older (the tables stop at age 18 so don’t include college).  A dual earner family in the middle income bracket spent $1,380 on child care/education from ages 0-2, but only $470 from 12-14 and $810 from 15-17.  Actually the most expensive years are ages 3-5 at all the income levels.  I wonder if this might help explain why American kids’ academic performance compared to other industrialized countries deteriorates as the kids get older?

Oh, and if you’re wondering how much that average American family is spending to raise each kid here’s the numbers expressed in 2001 dollars:

• Dual Earner Family <= $39,100: $124,800/child
• Dual Earner Family $39,100-$65,800: $170,460/child
• Dual Earner Family > $65,800: $249,180/child
• Single Earner Family <= $39,100: $118,590/child
• Single Earner Family > $39,100: $250,260/child