The Child as an Investment: A Financial Analysis
The decision to have a child is often described as one of the most profound emotional experiences in life. But what if we looked at it through a different lens—a financial one? This article explores the controversial but thought-provoking idea of viewing children as a long-term investment and compares them to traditional financial assets like retirement savings. The Cost of Raising a Child: A Deeper Look Before we can analyze the “return,” we must first understand the “principal.” According to recent data, the cost of raising a child to age 18 for a middle-income family in the U.S. is estimated to be around $300,000. This figure, which doesn’t even include college, breaks down into several key categories: ...