After reading that it costs around £230k to bring up a child till the age of 21, it got me wondering how I’m not stupidly wealthy after not having two kids?
More to the point really, I seriously don’t know how I could ever have afforded them in the first place? I know all those on here with bundles of joy will say “you just do”, but blimey it must have been tough for most giving up a wage etc? I take my hat off to you all.

Ah, you can afford a hat then?

>£10k/year to have a child? What does it eat?

Reading it where?

Reading it where?

the tatler.

some posh baby names too

Euripides & Gethsemane are doing very nicely @ Latymer Prep thanks

>£10k/year to have a child? What does it eat?

**** everything.

Mine will be shocked when they get presented with their bills …

During the first 5 years it costs a damn sight more than £10k and the last 3 years (18-21) will no doubt make the first 5 seem like a picnic.

I’ve read that figure before. I think it includes an estimate of lost earnings for the mother, cost of full time childcare, uni tuition fees.

I don’t think most people’s children cost them £230k. Or if they do, it’s a sunk cost, in that you don’t miss the money ‘cos you never had it in your hand, sort of thing.

I’ll take that figure seriously when I see a breakdown. Junior is going through uni and still doesn’t cost me £11 000 a year. They must be including opportunity costs, assuming the parents are too rich to receive any benefits and pay for a lot of non-essentials. I doubt he cost more than he saved us in tax for the first few years.

The Guardian.
Apparently it’s gone up 65% since 2003!
Mind you, who’s going to look after me when I’m old and dribbling on my slippers?

If I didn’t have 2 kids I’d probably have new stuff regularly and some more exotic holidays so wouldn’t be much better off financially.

Stuff doesn’t love you though, nor shit on your carpet…

I used to go out 2 or 3 times a week, and could easily spend £100 or more on a night out.

Nowadays, we’re lucky if we go out once every couple of months, and even then it usually doesn’t end up in a 3am taxi ride home….

More to the point really, I seriously don’t know how I could ever have afforded them in the first place?

Think of it as an investment, I’ll be needing someone to wipe my arse and change bags soon. Payback time.

Think of it as an investment, I’ll be needing someone to wipe my arse and change bags soon. Payback time.

smother you with a pillow to get their grubby little hands on the inheritance early more like 😉

I doubt he cost more than he saved us in tax for the first few years.

What tax saving do you get by having children?

I can see it, talking from a 32 year old perspective who is earning and whose peers’ are earning 30k+ a year;

My childless friends are driving lease/hp bmws/audis Im driving a 10 year old high mileage mondeo with a death rattle.

Childless friends have Dslr cameras with 600 note lenses. I have a camera phone and a 99 quid canon.

Childless friends have goretex pro berghaus, northface walking gear. I have regatta/craghoppers.

Childless friends go to Vietnam, Australia, Thailand etc. We go fuerteventura or camping.

Childless friends have top end bling carbon bikes. Mines mid range.

Childless friends have 4k curved 10 bit hdr screens with full sky package. I’ve got low rent 4k on tick with Freesat.

Childless friends buy named brand food and goods at supermarket. I’ll buy own brand weetabix they’ll buy the real deal. They’ll buy nurofen for £3 instead of 40p ibuprofen.

Childless friends go clothes shopping and spend 60 notes plus on a pair of jeans or a couple of hundred on a jacket. I buy supermarket clothes, primarni or eBay specials.

That’s my observations. Its not something I regret. Our children were planned and we knew sacrifices would have to be met for many years. I’m looking forward to the childcare bill going down once school starts so we can have a bigger house as currently childcare is akin to a second mortgage and we have two good wages coming in to the house.

Junior cost us ~£7k pa for the first few years in nursery costs alone,i can believe the figure

Mines in the bank, should’ve saved harder. 😆

I was pondering something similar only the other day – I’ve never been a great saver but since ‘housegate’, which has required taking out 0% cards and then paying them off to do renovations – I’ve paid off the best part of £20k in 3 years.

Twenty effin’ grand?!

I would never have saved that (I wish I had), but I clearly never noticed it flowing through my fingers beforehand. I guess it’s the same with kids, in that you just adjust?

Can’t say I really notice missing out on much either. Definitely drink less 🙂

Mines in the bank, should’ve saved harder

Hug your wife.

Jeez, even the US has a child tax allowance but the UK doesn’t seem to.

I don’t honesty think the “life cost” is £400k+, there are plenty of families on minimum wage making a living and bringing up 1-2-3 kids, obvz that figure is taken from a wildly high socio-economic demographic.. at least I think it is.

Neither of us wanted Kids, I do count myself lucky in one respect, but it ain’t all spendy spendy new toys every week I can tell you 😕

Neither of us wanted Kids, I do count myself lucky in one respect, but it ain’t all spendy spendy new toys every week I can tell you

not all it’s cut out to be, even when they get to the age of 28 they don’t seem to get their share of rounds in 👿 😕 😉

On nice things and bikes 🙂

Mind you, who’s going to look after me when I’m old and dribbling on my slippers?

Probably the nursing home your kids chuck you in whilst waiting for their inheritance to become available.

I’d probably be a damn site wealthier if every couple of months I’d stuck away £100 for the new pairs of shoes my imaginary kids needed?
It’s mad really because I don’t go out that much, don’t buy new bikes (I’m still on a 26er) and don’t fritter it away on clothes. I don’t really know anyone else who doesn’t have children so I don’t have anyone to compare myself to.

we ve two gurls.. 11 and 14.. all in .. food clothing travel school i d say they probably stand me at about 120 each a week..they are oretty low maintence money wise dont ask for anything material pretty good kids all in….the thing that really sucks is the time.. every evening except weds, is pre booked thats 6 till 9 usually saturday mornings and sunday mornings every week plus extras..three mornings a week means leaving at 7am on the school run and two evenings a week finish work early to pick them up 12 miles away.. dads taxi is NO fun its long boring hours for little personal gain.

We burn though £11k a year at the moment in childcare alone, they don’t need much food that’s non-standard anymore. Making stuff from ingredients rather than pre-made stuff means a bit more doesn’t really factor.

They’ve taken over my clothing budget – I’m wearing a ‘new’ t-shirt at the moment, it’s 3 years old ha ha.

As for the OPs question – **** knows, all I know is this – when I worked in finance I used to finance new M3s, Caymans and all manner of fancy stuff, it would usually be under a grand a month but I always though “I could never afford one of those” and I couldn’t, I couldn’t 2 years ago either, and now we spend that much on nursery and we’re not starving, I suspect if I looked again in 18 months when the littlest started school I still couldn’t afford one. (Partly because they seem to be 70k now) but I have to assume parents use magic – it gives you just enough to get by, but not enough to live it up.

4 kids 2 still at uni, lost income from her indoors over 25 years = at least £500k the figue quoted is too low.

Add in the rest of it then i estimate my (our) cost is well over a £1m and counting – house deposits for 4 of them is going to to at least £140k and there is no inherited money to come our way.

Its one hell of a commitment

How many bikes have you bought?

Be honest.

My childless friend has…

A 400K + house & no mortgage.
4 renty houses, 2 with mortgages.
A 2016 motorhome, paid cash.
A 2012 Freelander, paid cash.
His Mrs works in an estate agents office.
He’s next bike purchase will be a Santa Cruz of some description. He’ll pay cash.
They are however thinking about getting a dog. (but probably won’t)

Both very happy without rugrats.

I think i have earned over the last 37 years around (in todays money) £1.5m quid so 2/3 has gone to my kids in some shape or form.

If i had not benefitted from buying and renovating property had my own business and a final salary pension i would be destitute. Its more than a little sobering.

Probably had 15 motorbikes and 3 mountain bikes (some sold for a profit) over 40 years…. total investment £50k sold most for around £40k – so £10k of selfish money over 40 years…. proper waster me (£4.80 a week)

Never really thought about Funkmaster Jr in financial terms. Whatever he costs us he’s already given back ten fold and he’s not even three yet. Love the little mad man. Only downsides are being down to one, rarely ridden, bike and watching the house fall to bits and not having the cash to fix it. Should be better once Mrs Funkmaster returns to work, roll on school starting.

We burn though £11k a year at the moment in childcare alone

Presumably so you can both work? Hence nett profit?

Presumably so you can both work? Hence nett profit?

Not in comparison to a childless dual-income couple, no.

One child here in nursery, the costs are way over the price of our mortgage. It’s far from bankrupting us but is certainly a factor in making us think we don’t want a second one

Ha! We’ve just this evening been going through our budget as we’re about to move into a new house and, well, kids might be soon on the horizon.

Funnily enough, the figure we came up with after some cursory googling was…. £10k per annum.

Maybe the Guardian just did the same googling as us 😀

Can believe the numbers. £1k pcm in nursery fees at the moment, and wife down to a 4 day week. Also need to factor in it will be harder for the both of us to progress our careers whilst we are knackered/have less time to worry about work/focus more on the kids. But that is of course our choice and we are expecting our second….. I’m looking forward to feeling like I’ve had a massive payrise when they go to school.