The costs of raising a baby (per msn.com)....

[bliss_eternal]

Raising your $221,000 baby

Children are priceless, but raising them is one of the most expensive things you'll ever do. Here's how much it costs, along with some strategies for lowering expenses.



By MSN Money staff

Every newborn child is a bundle of joy. But you'd better have a bundle of cash on hand if you want to raise one.

Typical families, those making from $56,870 to $98,470 a year, will spend a whopping $221,190 to raise a second child born in 2008 through age 17, estimates the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (.pdf file), a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Higher-income families will spend even more. Those earning more than $98,470 will spend $366,660 overall in the U.S. to raise a second child; that figure rises to $406,680 in urban areas of the Northeast.

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excerpt from:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/RaiseKids/RaisingYour290000Baby.aspx?GT1=33004

[ismnotwasm]

1. That is inherently sad

I suppose it's part of family planning or whatever, but who puts away half a mil to raise a couple of kids? Nobody I know. It kind of bugs me that kids are separated out like that, I guess because they eventually hit the road as adult (and a joyous occasion that is indeed, no empty nest syndrome here)but jeez, they make it sound like a investment in a house or a car.