The Cost of Having Kids has Reached New Heights Says Research

The Cost of a Child in 2016 finds the minimum cost of a child from birth to 18 is now £151,600 for a couple - a slight increase (1.2%) on 2014-15.  For lone parents the cost is £182,589 – a 9% jump on the previous year.    

For out-of- work families with two children the gap between their income and the amount needed for a minimum living standard is stark: couples families are 39% short, lone parent families 37%.  

Child benefit plus maximum child tax credit together cover only 72% of the costs of a child for lone parents.  The percentage for couple families is 98%.  

The Cost of a Child in 2016 is the fifth report in an annual series. It draws on what the public says every family requires to meet its basic needs and participate in society and is based on a series of calculations supported by Child Poverty Action Group and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation systematically monitoring the cost of a child.

We don't recomend cost cutting in the manner shown as the right solution.