Answer: $310,665

Here's a breakout of the costs from USDA report: 

Questions: 

• Is this number higher or lower than you expected?
• What do you think are your family's largest expenses? Do they match the chart you saw earlier? 
• Does a statistic like this affect how you think about a future family that you might have? 

Here are the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (Brookings): 

We estimate that total average family expenditures on a child born in 2015 to a middle-class family with two children, adjusted for higher expected future inflation, would be $310,605. Due to higher inflation, a middle-income married family with two children will now spend $26,011 more to raise a child to the age of 17. This cost increase presents an even heavier burden for low-income parents and families, for whom expenses such as food, housing, and gas comprise an even larger portion of their income.

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About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.