在美國養孩子的成本有多高?大綱
Middle-income parents who welcomed a new child last year can expect to spend nearly $300,000 over the next 17 years, according to a new report.
對於在去年迎來一位家庭新成員的中等收入美國家庭而言，未來17年裏，他們花在這個孩子身上的花費可能是近30萬美元。此數字來自美國農業部（U.S. Department of Agriculture）最新發布的家庭子女教育花費報告。
The U.S. Department of Agriculture prepares an annual report about families' expenditures on children for use in developing state child-support and foster-care guidelines. Annual child-rearing expense estimates ranged between $12,290 and $14,320 for a child in a two-child, married-couple family in the middle-income group, which is defined as a before-tax income between $59,410 and $102,870.
Getty Images美國農業部的這份報告每年發佈一次，旨在爲美國州政府處理子女贍養費用相關問題時提供指引。根據報告，有兩名子女的中等收入已婚雙親家庭每年用於一個孩子的撫養開支估計在12,290美元到14,320美元之間。這裏所說中等收入家庭是指稅前收入在59,410美元到102,870美元之間的家庭。
The amount spent on a child by families in the highest income group, on average, was more than twice the amount spent by families in the lowest income group. A child born last year to someone in the lowest income group would cost $212,370 over 17 years, compared to $490,830 for highest earners.
平均而言，收入水平最高的家庭未來用於孩子的花銷預計會是低收入家庭的兩倍多。低收入家庭未來17年裏用於撫養一個去年所出生孩子的費用預計爲212,370美元，而高收入家庭的花費將爲490,830美元。
The biggest share of the expense in raising a child, according to the report, is housing at 30%, followed by child-care and education at 18%, food at 16%, transportation at 14% and health care at 8%.
根據這份報告，撫養孩子所需的最大開銷是住房，佔比30%；其次是子女看護和教育，佔比18%；食物佔比爲16%；交通佔比14%，醫療保健爲8%。
The report has been compiled since 1960, when adjusted for inflation, a middle-income two parent household would have spent around $192,000 over 17 years in 2011 dollars to raise a child. The biggest change over 50 years is the share of expenses going to child-care and education, which was just 2% in 1960.
這份報告自1960年開始發佈，而按照2011年的幣值計算，經過通貨膨脹因素調整後，當年中等收入雙親家庭在未來17年裏用於一個孩子的花銷爲19.2萬美元左右。這50多年裏，最大的變化在於子女看護和教育的開支佔比明顯增加了，1960年時看護和教育在全部費用中的比例僅有2%。
On a regional basis, it cost the most to raise a child in the urban northeast of the U.S. and least in rural areas of the country.
按地區看，在美國東北部的城市中撫養孩子的成本最高，而農村地區的成本最低。
If you're already balking at the quarter-million dollar price tag, consider this: the report stops at age 17. Parents who send their children to college can add a significant sum to the total. The report notes estimate by the College Board that in 2011-2012, annual average tuition and fees were $28,500 at 4-year private (non-profit) colleges, while annual room and board was $10,089.
如果你已經被這幾十萬美元的數字嚇着了，再想想這個吧：這份報告估算的費用只截止到17歲。對於那些要送孩子上大學的父母來說，這總數上面還要加上一筆不菲的費用。這份報告在註解中列出，美國大學理事會(College Board)預計2011到2012學年四年制私立（非營利）大學的年度平均學費和各種雜費總計爲2.85萬美元，每年的食宿費用爲10,089美元。
