Costs of raising a child

Intriguing. From The cost of raising kids, in two charts by Suzy Khimm. The source report is Expenditures on Children by families, 2011.



Everything is relatively cheaper except for two categories, healthcare and Childcare/Education. Healthcare, while perhaps not efficient, is still definitely better than fifty years ago.

What caught my eye was child care and education. Up nine-fold. Wow! Obviously part of that is in the child care segment with an increased portion of women with children working. But nine-fold? At least a portion of that nine-fold increase is attributable to education costs. Say a doubling. Are our schools twice as good as they were fifty years ago. More inclusive almost certainly. Offering a wider range of academic preparation - probably. But that much better at improving a child's probability of succeeding in modern society and the modern economy. Color me skeptical.