Is Having a Child Actually Worth it?

Sidney Vargo

Blog Post

Economics - B3 - Reuter

28th February 2017

Is Having A Child Actually Worth It?

When a person or persons decide to add to their life by having a child, there is a lot financially that needs to be discussed and thought through before the first steps even begin. And even when people get there and have this figured out, the actual price for just bringing a child into the world is high. The average price for a labor and delivery stay at the hospital is $10,000. For some groups of people, such as those who are unable to naturally conceive, single parents, or LGBT couples, an IVF (a procedure for people to conceive through laboratory fertilization) on average costs $12,000. The price for adoption can be anywhere from $5,000-$40,000. Just obtaining a baby or child is already a very expensive process. Added to that, the cost of raising a child from birth to eighteen years is on average $233,610. That is not including college or entertainment charges. That price is simply the money it costs for basic survival. This really makes people think about the opportunity costs with having and raising a child. Studies have also shown as time goes on, the inflation in cost for raising children will go up as technology further progresses. Because of these facts, a lot of the millennial generation (anyone born from 1979-1999) has proven to less likely to want to become parents due to the high expenses of it all. Many millennials are ranking up lots of debt all on their own due to college debt and student loans. It could be very possible that the number of adults with children will decrease dramatically as the years go by, externally affecting the country's population and economy overall. Many businesses that target to baby and child products could very well highly decrease in profit.  

Above is a chart showing the statistics of women having children depending on their education from 1994-2014. You can see from the pink, as time as gone on, fewer women are having children then they did twenty years ago in 1994. Sure, there are still women having children. There will always be people choosing to become parents. However the difference is the change in time is pretty huge, and will most likely continue on it’s path to decreasing over time. This decision will for sure effect microeconomics over time.

Having, raising, and even the simple procedure of obtaining a child--whether through birth or adoption--is highly expensive, and financially makes sense when people decide the cost of the child just isn’t worth it. Even without money being a problem, being a parent is something you don’t take a day off from. It’s time consuming and takes a lot of effort, and there’s truly nothing that can prepare you for such an extreme task. So when you see people like me boldly saying they would prefer not to have children, it’s best to look at the facts before you judge them. Opportunity cost plays a big role here, and to some people like me, that opportunity cost just isn’t worth it.

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