Average cost to raise a child increases to $235,000, report says

A middle-class US family will spend roughly $8,000 more to raise a child born in 2011 than the year before, according to a new report by the US Department of Agriculture.

The average cost of food, clothing, health care and other expenses rose 3.5 percent to just under $235,000 over 17 years, according to the agency's annual report "Expenditures on Children by Families."

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That amount rises to about $295,560 if projected inflation costs are factored in.

Housing was the top expense parents can expect to deal with, followed by child care and education; food; and transportation, according to MSNBC.

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In 1960, the first year the report was produced, a middle-income family would have spent about $25,000 over the course of 17 years, or $191,720 adjusted for today’s dollars, MSNBC reported.

The study defined middle-income families as those who make $59,000 to $103,000 a year before taxes, CNN reported.

Courts and state governments use the report to assist with determining child support guidelines and foster care payments. It is based off of data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey put out by the federal government, according to CBS News.