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Babies are bundles of joy to their parents and the parent’s family, but raising children costs money infact a child is your life biggest spending or investment. A new child into the family brings along a whole new set of expenses. From hospital bills to diapers to baby furniture, to daycare, education costs for new parents mount quickly. For some, the reality of these expenses is daunting. Others are completely unaware of how the joy of a new child will impact their financial situation. What are the financial steps to take before starting a family?
As per ET Online research, the overall expenditure of schooling a child in India in a private school from age 3 to age 17 is a whopping Rs 30 lakh.

Expenses that parents can expect to incur at various stages of their children’s lives

Here’s a quick table illustrating the costs of the child at various stages factoring inflation:

Total Costs of Raising a Child Commerce Stream Science (MBBS) Stream
In 2019 (Without including inflation) 8,313,689 22,364,689
In 2042 (With Inflation) 20,084,919 67,256,774

How much does a Baby Cost?

Why should we look at the child in terms of its cost? The child is not a cost to parents! Absolutely right, child will carry on your legacy, your family name. I am a proud mother of two children and I say that pros of having a child outweigh the cons. Quoting the tagline of the famous ad They are worth it(the trouble, the money). Interested readers can checkout Lifehacker To Have Kids or Not to Have Kids: Your Best Arguments The arrival of a child heralds a change in spending and saving habits. It is important to rework financial goals, ensure a clear strategy for funding them, and begin a saving and investing plan.

But along with the little slip,the pregnancy test, that says that your baby is on his way comes a price tag. The payment which starts with that pregnancy test grows faster than your child and can assume gigantic proportions. Food, clothing, and health care are just a few items that can add up into tons of expenses before adulthood. Okay so it’s expensive to raise a child. But just how expensive is it? How much money does the average  child need from the time of birth to when he or she turns 18? The answer depends on many factors. Does one parent stay at home or does the family hire nanny or a maid or will grand parents help out? Which school will  the child attend ? What stream(Engineering, Medical) your child chooses?

An estimate in Economic Times in March 2011, cost of raising a child from birth to age of majority (21 Years) for middle to upper-middle income family comes to about Rs. 55 Lakh (Rs. 5.5 Million, or about 90,000 USD as of Sep’2014) in total. Some excerpts from Economic Times are given below. For the full infographic checkout it out on bemoneyaware’s pinterest here or click on image below. 

Cost of raising child in India

Cost of raising child in India

Costs of Raising a Child

The cost of raising a child can be divided into various stages. Note that the actual prices for your family may vary, based on your lifestyle, location, and other preferences. This is just to give you an idea. For breakup of costs, one can look at How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Child in India

The Cost Of Prenatal Care (0-9 Months) 50,000- 1.5 lakh In the prenatal stage, major expenses go towards medical and Pre-birth Rituals
The Cost Of Child Delivery (During Birth) 40,000-1.5 lakh The hospitalisation cost is the major expense. It depends on the type of delivery: normal or C-section delivery.

While C-section delivery could cost anywhere between Rs 60,000 to 1.5 Lacs, a normal delivery could cost about 40,000 to 1 Lac depending on the type of hospital chosen or the city you live in.

The Cost Of Raising An Infant (0-2 Years) 2,00,000-5,00,000 Vaccination Costs, Cost of Diapers, Maid, Birthday party, Toys
The Cost Of Raising A Toddler (2-3 Years) 1,50,000-3,00,000 Pre-school fees, Toys, Maid
The Costs For A Child During Primary School (3 – 8 Years) 5,00,000-12,00,000 Education, Extracurricular Activities, Food, Clothes and Toys, Maid
The Costs For A Child During Middle School (8 – 13 Years) 10,00,000- 12,00,000 Education, Extracurricular Activities, Food, Clothes and Toys
The Costs For A Child During High School (13 – 18 Years) 12,00,000-15,00,000 School fees, Special Classes, Extracurricular Activities, Gadgets (Laptop, Mobile)
The Costs For A Child During College (18 – 21 Years) 5,00,000+ College fees (depends on stream, college chosen),

Having a baby: How to manage finances?

First, let’s look at the Money question section of ET Wealth 16 Mar 2015 which talked about how parents should manage finances before having a baby.
Komal and Jas are a working couple and earn enough to enjoy a lavish lifestyle. They have been married for five years and are planning to start a family soon. It is going to be a life-changing event, so they need to modify their spending habits. They want to put the changes in place before the baby arrives. The first step, however, is to estimate the cost of raising a child. The estimate will depend on their income, savings and goals for the child.
Planning a family is a time for would-be parents to ramp up their savings net.
Komal and Jas must have 6-9 months’ expenses as savings in their emergency fund, which can be used when Komal decides to take maternity leave.
Apart from the additional expenses related to the pregnancy and the arrival of the baby, the couple need to decide whether Komal would take an extended break from work. They need to adjust their expenditure accordingly and save enough for a transition from a two income to a one-income household. They may have to reorient their monthly budget–instead of buying luxury white goods and going on holidays, they will have to use the money for higher medical care expenses and hiring a nanny for instance.It’s never too late to start planning and saving for the long-term.
Komal and Jas need to rework how they plan to fund their home loan EMI and meet other household expenses. Add to that the cost of raising a child and paying for higher education. This implies that Jas may have to rework his life insurance needs. Apart from that, health insurance and critical illness covers will also need to be taken up. All these will amount to a higher annual expenditure.
There must be a clear-cut plan about how all these increased expenses will be met. Investments will be key for ensuring the child’s future. New parents should start saving early for both short-term as well as long-term expenses. While long-term investments can be made in equity, investing for short-term goals should be made in fixed deposits and debt mutual funds.
The arrival of a child heralds a change in spending and saving habits. It is important to rework financial goals, ensure a clear strategy for funding them, and begin a saving and investing plan. A young family requires the highest capability in planning as it straddles liquidity, return, risk, short-term needs and long-term goals, all at once.

Planning for Baby

A new baby changes your family’s financial status. You have more expenses and You may suddenly be living on a lower income, if one spouse works less or not at all. So where do expecting and new parents start? Let’s go through these baby steps
Start early. Take time to determine your family’s immediate financial needs as well as your long-term goals preferably before the child is born. 
Determine the costs and Prepare for emergencies. Determine the true cost of what you will need and weigh it against the new realities of your household income situation. This is particularly important if your spouse plan to leave the work for an extended period of time. Consult another new parent for a list of monthly baby expenses to get a clear picture of those costs. The chances of unexpected expenses will become much greater once the little one comes on the scene.
Get protection through proper insurance. Protection is critical. It’s time to face your own mortality and vulnerability. Insure your income , health and life through appropriate insurance  to protect your family’s financial future. For example Life insurance gives you priceless peace of mind and a guarantee that your family will be cared for financially should you die before your children are grown and on their own. If you have health insurance via a plan with your employer, review what your plan offers. You may need to make changes based on your changing life situation. And if you don’t have health insurance at all, you must a find a suitable plan for your family. Doctors are expensive.
Save for education. Education even school education has become expensive. You have the choice of ICSE, CBSE, IGSE, etc. Education has changed Curriculum has developed, examination system has become comprehensive, classes with fewer students, a better student-to-teacher ratio, parents totally dedicated to their one or two kids. Our article CBSE,ICSE,IB,IGCSE : Choosing the School and Various Boards talks about various boards in detail.

Higher education costs have been galloping.   The cost of higher education is already high and rising at 10-12% a year. Children’s education is one of the biggest cash outflows that families must plan for.

Elite higher education within India is steep.

  • Enrolling in a top-rated engineering college, like one of the twenty-three IITs or any other private institution, for a 4-year BTech or a 3-year BSc, costs around Rs 4-20 lakh. Expenses for coaching for entrance exams like JEE, JEE (Main) and other exams range from Rs 30,000 to Rs 5 lakh.
  • A top-rated management institution like one of the twenty IIMs, or any other private university in the country, costs Rs 8 lakh-Rs 23 lakh. Coaching for qualifying tests like CAT or GMAT has extra cost.
  • In a field such as finance, a CPA costs Rs 3,60,000; CMA would cost Rs 80,000-1,20,000 inclusive of training, examination, and IMA membership fees.
  • To complete a Chartered Accountancy course, the overall expenditure is Rs 86,000, excluding the tutoring fee.

Images below from the Economic Times article Best ways to invest for your child’s education is to forewarn you about the rising costs and how you can prepare for your children higher education.If you have a daughter and she is currently less than 10 years old you can open Sukanya Samridhhi account for her.

Cost of college education in MBBS, BTech, MBA and Law

Cost of college education in MBBS, BTech, MBA and Law

 

Rising Higher education costs : How to plan

How to save and invest for Child’s Higher education

Related articles:

Supporting a family is hard work. They say Forewarned is Forearmed. Be aware of the changes, emotional, financial that you need to make and make them so that you can enjoy the journey of parenthood which is 24X7 with no holidays. Many people these days are deciding to have just one child due to high expenses. How did you deal with your finances on the addition of a new member to your family?  Did you/your wife leave the job? Do you think one should have just one child? What financial changes do you suggest? How are you preparing for your child’s higher education?

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