The Cost of a Child reports

The cost of a child in 2024

• In-work families are struggling. A lone parent with two children working full time on the minimum wage can only cover 69 per cent of the cost of a child, while a similar couple can only cover 84 per cent.
• Out-of-work families are struggling even more. An out-of-work family with two children has less than half the income required to meet the cost of a minimum acceptable standard of living (39 per cent in a couple family, 44 per cent in a lone parent family).
• Families are further away from reaching a decent standard of living than at any point since this research began. All family types have the lowest share of costs covered since this series started in 2008.
• For families in work, the shortfall is particularly stark for larger families. For a lone parent on the minimum wage with three children, the share covered falls to 45 per cent (63 per cent for a couple on the minimum wage with three children).
• The key driver of these alarming figures is that costs have risen much faster than income via social security for all family types (ie, there have been real-terms cuts to social security).
• The shortfalls for in-work families outlined above highlight how work, on its own, is not sufficient to enable families to reach a basic standard of living and social security plays a crucial role.