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Cost of a child

In 2018, the additional basic cost of a child, from birth to age 18, was £75,147 for a couple family and £101,883 for a lone-parent family. If housing and childcare costs are added these rise to £150,753 and £183,335 respectively.

A couple with two children, both parents working full time on the minimum wage, only has 89 per cent of the income required to meet the family's minimum needs.

In London, the poverty rate doubles when housing costs are taken into account (from 14 per cent to 28 per cent).

 

Report

The Cost of a Child in 2017

16 August 2017
Our Cost of a Child in 2017 report calculates the cost of raising a child in the UK based on the minimum income standard (MIS).
Benefit levels Childcare Cost of a child Costs and spending Housing Report UK Work and pay
Blog

The cost of a child: Theresa May must reverse cuts to family benefits

22 September 2016
The mood around welfare cuts may finally be shifting. The new work and pensions secretary Damian Green has explicitly sought to distance himself from the stance of the past six years by stating that there "will be no new search for cuts in individual welfare benefits".
Blog Childcare Cost of a child Costs and spending Housing In-work benefits Life chances UK Universal credit Welfare reform
Press release

Parents on minimum wage cannot meet basic family costs

22 September 2016
Parents working on the ‘national living wage’ still can’t earn enough to provide an acceptable minimum living standard for their children despite flat (and now falling) inflation and a drop in core household costs like food and energy – even if they both work full-time, warns a new report.
Bedroom tax Benefit cap Benefit levels Childcare Children’s benefits Cost of a child Costs and spending Housing Life chances Press release Tax credits UK Universal credit Welfare reform Work and pay
News

Cost of a child 2016

22 September 2016
Our annual cost of a child research finds that two parents working full-time on the minimum wage are still £50 a week short of what they need to raise their children at a minimum standard of living.
Benefit levels Cost of a child Costs and spending News UK Work and pay
Report

Cost of a child 2016

21 September 2016
How much does it cost to raise a child in 2016? This annual research from CPAG and Professor Donald Hirsch, Director of the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, finds that parents working on the new higher minimum wage still cannot earn enough to provide an acceptable minimum standard of living for their children.
Childcare Children’s benefits Cost of a child Costs and spending Housing In-work benefits Life chances Report Tax credits UK
Article

The cost of a child

Issue 152 (Autumn 2015)
Since 2012, Child Poverty Action Group and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have been measuring the cost of a child and the adequacy of family incomes and benefit levels. This year, for the first time, the project also assessed the additional costs facing families in London.
Article Childcare Cost of a child Costs and spending Housing Poverty journal
Blog

The minimum standard of living is getting harder to reach

12 August 2015
The basic cost of bringing up a child is getting harder to meet. New CPAG research updating our annual 'Cost of a child' report has found that while the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 remains high, at £149,805, state support for meeting those costs is diminishing sharply.
Benefit levels Blog Children’s benefits Cost of a child Costs and spending Tax credits UK Work and pay
Press release

Parents struggling to meet no-frills family costs as crisis in family finances looms

12 August 2015
Parents working on the minimum wage are on the brink of a new crisis in family finances that will leave many stranded when it comes to meeting no-frills family costs, warns a new report produced by Loughborough University’s Donald Hirsch for Child Poverty Action Group.
Benefit cap Benefit levels Childcare Cost of a child Costs and spending Housing Life chances Press release Tax credits Two child limit UK Universal credit Work and pay
News

Cost of a child 2015

12 August 2015
We've just published our yearly research on the cost of raising a child. It finds a looming crisis for family finances.
Benefit levels Child poverty statistics Childcare Children’s benefits Cost of a child Costs and spending Ending child poverty Housing Life chances News UK
Report

Cost of a child 2015

11 August 2015
Our annual research on the cost of raising a child finds families working on the minimum wage are on the brink of a new crisis in family finances that wil leave many struggling. While the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 remains high at £149,805, state support to help cover these costs is set to deteriorate sharply.
Cost of a child Costs and spending Report UK Work and pay