"The sticker shock would be even greater if the sticker price were accurate. Every year the Department of Agriculture publishes estimates of family spending on children.
"This year, as in other years, many journalists duly passed the information on, often with snide asides about the “gift that keeps on taking” or the escalating price of bundles of joy.
"A married middle-income two-child family can expect to spend about $235,000 on housing, medical care, food, clothing, toys and other items over the next 17 years for a child born in 2011. The costs of college are extra. ..." <Read more>
