According to the latest annual “Cost of a Child” survey from Liverpool Victoria, the UK’s largest Friendly Society, the cost of raising a child from birth to age 21 has now reached over £180,000. Given that the average house is now priced around this mark, having a child is, financially speaking, almost on a par with buying a typical semi-detached house!
In the past year, the cost of raising a child has risen by 9% (and 28% over four years), which is far in excess of both general inflation (rising prices) and wage increases, and even outstrips house-price growth. As you can see from the following table, the biggest expenses are childcare and education, which together account for almost £96,000, or more than half of the total outlay:…