FNS Documents & Resources

This study informs FNS about the reasons behind underredemption of the cash-value benefit issued to participants in WIC. 

Expenditures on Children by Families provides estimates of the cost of raising children from birth through age 17 for major budgetary components.

The Expenditures on Children by Families annual report provides estimates of the cost of raising children from birth through age 17 for different budgetary components, including food, housing, transportation, health care, clothing, child care and education, and miscellaneous costs.

The annual report, Expenditures on Children and Families, also known as the Cost of Raising a Child, shows that a middle-income family with a child born in 2013 can expect to spend about $245,340 ($304,480 adjusted for projected inflation* for food, housing, childcare and education, and other child-rearing expenses up to age 18. Costs associated with pregnancy or expenses occurred after age 18, such as higher education, are not included.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its annual report, Expenditures on Children by Families, also known as the Cost of Raising a Child. The report shows that a middle-income family with a child born in 2012 can expect to spend about $241,080 ($301,970 adjusted for projected inflation* for food, shelter, and other necessities associated with child-rearing expenses over the next 17 years.

This rule permanently excludes combat pay from being considered as income and eliminates the maximum dollar limit of the dependent care deduction.