Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
To Raise A Child In 2022, It Costs A Hair-Raising $310,605
The cost of raising a child through high school has risen to more than $300,000 because of inflation that is running close to a four-decade high, according to a Brookings Institution estimate.聽It determined that a married, middle-income couple with two children would spend $310,605鈥攐r an average of $18,271 a year鈥攖o raise their younger child born in 2015 through age 17. The calculation uses an earlier government estimate as a baseline, with adjustments for inflation trends. (Torchinsky, 8/19)
The figure is roughly $80,000 more than the estimate USDA released聽in 2017, when it calculated the average child-rearing costs for a middle-income, married couple with a child born in the same year. ... The new estimate only crunches numbers for middle-income, married parents, and doesn鈥檛 include projections for single parent households, or consider how race factors into cost challenges. (Folley, 8/19)
In other news about parenthood and fertility 鈥
A landmark social program being pioneered in Washington called 鈥淏aby Bonds鈥 will provide children of the city鈥檚 poorest families with up to $25,000 when they reach adulthood. The money is to be used for a handful of purposes, including education. (Khalil, 8/21)
The age of menopause is tied to longevity. The average age of natural menopause in the United States is 51, according to the North American Menopause Society. (LaMotte, 8/21)
