How expensive is it to have a child?

Itsjustsammy19

I've read that the first year a child is born it costs over £11,000 and the costs keep going up each year. Is this true? If that is the case there is absolutely no way we can afford to have them as that will be all of our money gone. :-( Are there any ways of making children less expensive and actually affordable so we can look after them and afford a nice life?

Petriix

Nah, kids are free. You're just getting sucked in with all the in-app purchases. It's like playing Fortnite: you don't have to buy the expensive clothes!

Besides... Some things can't be attributed a monetary value. Though there's been some points over the last couple of months that I would have paid good money for someone to take the kids away; in truth they're priceless and worth every penny. And, depending on your situation, there's a reasonable amount of support available if needed.

warby68

A baby really doesn't cost much to feed, clothe and equip. Nor does a child really.
Magazine articles need a hefty pinch of salt.
What really costs is the loss or interruption to income and childcare costs if you need them. They're the big ticket items that need a lot of thought and are worth planning for. Saving up and also practicing living on the lower income are good steps. The 2 can go together.
There is never a perfect time financially to have a child though but most people find a way.

MTBMum

I’d say it’s hard to calculate, because it will also depend on whether you include the “cost” of getting a bigger house, car, holiday caravan, etc. Kids do cost money, and you will definitely have more money if you don’t have kids, but you don’t have to actually hand over £11,000 per year to have one. I think DD1 cost £600 pre birth, £50 pcm for the first year and then £700pcm for the second year (inc nursery fees so I could go back to work full time), plus DS1 who arrived at 18months at £50pcm.

strawb_shortcake

As above these articles should be taken with a pinch of salt. When I was pregnant with my first we knew we wanted one parent at home, so planned our commitments on one wage. When I started Maternity leave I had it all my pay go in a separate account (I was lucky to get 6 months full pay 17 years ago).

Pre birth we bought, a cot second hand pram/pushchair - I wanted a silver cross and second hand was the only option at the time. 
We invested in washable nappies and bought plain white vests and baby grows. Then bedding and odds and ends were bought ad hoc. Great Granny knitted for England so we had way to many hats and cardigans. 

I then breast fed, and weaned using no shop bought baby food. 
Only real expense was clothes but you get given loads. Shoes has been and still is the biggest expense last year 3 pairs of school shoes were £170 - I never scrimp on decent shoes for them.
Birthdays we set an initial budget of £100 for presents, Christmas we tend to go a bit overboard but never go into debt for. 

Children can be as cheap or as expensive as you want them to be, but they will always remember the time  and experiences you spent with them rather the fancy playstation they had one Christmas. And if people waited for when they thought they could afford Children there would be a lot less people in the world.

fred246

You get child benefit which covers the extra expense of having a child.

Fireflyaway

The initial expenditure involved in having a baby varies so much. You could easily spend £20k if you bought designer everything and designed a bespoke nursery! Or you could be sensible and buy a cot, pram, car seat and basic clothes for £1000 (possibility less actually). 
I agree it's not that expensive to provide for a newborn. They don't need much. It's the loss of earnings and paying for childcare that impacts the budget. It's definitely worth looking into what your income / childcare costs would be and adjusting your budget / making a plan. Being broke and stressed with a newborn isn't fun. However we for things improved with pay rises and childcare costs eventually stopping. Even if it's a bit tight it's not forever. 
fred246 - I'm not sure that £20 a week would stretch that far?! 

Savvy_Sue

fred246 said:

You get child benefit which covers the extra expense of having a child.

  

Fireflyaway said:

fred246 - I'm not sure that £20 a week would stretch that far?! 

Fred might come from the generation where Mrs Fred would be barefoot, pregnant, tied to the kitchen sink, therefore unable to spend much money, and he would dole out an allowance on which she would be expected to manage. 

However, more seriously, there IS child benefit, 

Who the allowance is for	Rate (weekly)
Eldest or only child	£21.05
Additional children	£13.95 per child

And there are also Tax Credits for those on a low income. 

AND you are likely to revise your ideas of what constitutes 'a nice life'. 

strawb_shortcake

Savvy_Sue said:

fred246 said:

You get child benefit which covers the extra expense of having a child.

  

Fireflyaway said:

fred246 - I'm not sure that £20 a week would stretch that far?! 

Fred might come from the generation where Mrs Fred would be barefoot, pregnant, tied to the kitchen sink, therefore unable to spend much money, and he would dole out an allowance on which she would be expected to manage. 

However, more seriously, there IS child benefit, 

Who the allowance is for	Rate (weekly)
Eldest or only child	£21.05
Additional children	£13.95 per child

And there are also Tax Credits for those on a low income. 

AND you are likely to revise your ideas of what constitutes 'a nice life'. 

But child benefit typically  only pays out for 2 children now, and aren't tax credits are closed for new applicants? Not sure if Universal credit is so generous as tax credits was/is?

chelseablue

Babies/children don't have to be expensive in terms of 'stuff'
The biggest expense we found was the childcare, we paid £800 a month for his nursery and that was just for 3 days a week
A full time place was £1,200 a month and that was a few years ago as son is now 6 
Part of the reason we're only having the 1 is because we couldn't afford the childcare now 

Savvy_Sue

annabanana82 said:

Savvy_Sue said:

However, more seriously, there IS child benefit, 

Who the allowance is for	Rate (weekly)
Eldest or only child	£21.05
Additional children	£13.95 per child

And there are also Tax Credits for those on a low income. 

AND you are likely to revise your ideas of what constitutes 'a nice life'. 

But child benefit typically  only pays out for 2 children now, and aren't tax credits are closed for new applicants? Not sure if Universal credit is so generous as tax credits was/is?

I'm not as well-up on these things as I used to be, however I took my child benefit information from the HMRC page, where there was no mention of it only being paid for two children. I do remember this being discussed, and note also that the person only gets Home Responsibilities Protection until 'the child's' 12th birthday - I presume that is the youngest child, but with the government, tax and benefits, who knows?

As for Child Tax Credits, again, I clicked on a gov.uk link for Child Tax Credit. I see now they are being replaced by UC. But the name persists on official pages.