People have flooded to social media in shock after a mum revealed how much she spends on her three children per year.
There are many reasons birth rates have been falling in recent years in the US, but once you hear about the cost of raising a child per year, maybe one will stand out more than others.
Raising a whole human is no easy feat, let alone in a cost of living crisis. Children are kind of like cold callers - they naggingly try and get your attention when you're at your busiest and you risk parting ways with money you don't have and aren't even certain what it's going towards.
Advert
Ultimately, while often parents remind us they're the ones who pay for the roof over our head, they, in fact, pay for a whole lot more than a few bricks and shelter: pencil cases, piano lessons, ballet shoes, braces, school trips - you name it, the list is endless.
Mum-of-three Dana (@livijayfam) decided to go through her finances and figure out exactly how much she spends on her three children every year.
The TikToker warns followers: "I just totalled up how much my children cost me per year and the number is going to shock you... because it shocked me."
Advert
Dana acknowledges the financial pressures and implications of having children can be a 'big factor' in people's decision to become parents, so she wants to be 'transparent'.
Prepare to clutch onto your purse tightly and - if you've not had a human child already - stare appreciatively at your pet cat.
Noting her children are on the younger side, aged three, six and nine, Dana reveals she discovered she spends $18,000 (£15,000) per year on 'extracurriculars' for her children - her son playing soccer and her two daughters in 'competition dance teams' and tumbling.
Advert
Dana also admits: "I'm probably levelling that a little bit because I didn't include the convention stays where we have to stay for the weekend."
Dana then spends $600-a-month (£490-a-month) on her son to go to pre-school, 'which is about 10 months so $6,000 (£5,000) part-time'. Thankfully her two daughters go to public school.
Just because her two eldest kids go to public school, doesn't mean it all comes for free though, with Dana spending 'at least $3,000-a-year (£2,500-a-year)' on clothes and shoes.
Advert
For food, Dana notes 'this one's hard' because of buying for the whole family and inflation prices having gone up drastically, but if she had to guess, her three children cost her 'about $1,200 (£980) extra per month in food'.
The total cost of food for the year subsequently totals $14,400 (£12,000).
Dana then gets stuck into Christmas and birthdays, guessing an approximate number of '$1,500 to $1,800 (£1,200 to £1,500) a year on their Christmas gifts'.
"And for their birthdays, $500 (£400) per kid," she adds.
Advert
Dana then adds on $3,000 (£2,400) a year for 'extras that [she's] forgetting about' such as getting a bigger car for all the children, a vacation.
Her final total? An eye-watering '$47,475-a-year (£39,000-a-year) for three kids'.
Dana notes she 'definitely' thinks she goes 'overboard in some areas' of spending and so her total spending is 'not the minimum amount you need to have happy, healthy children'.
However, she says: "But I do think it's a realistic view of what kids could cost."
Fellow TikTokers have flocked to the post in similar horror over the cost of raising a family.
One said: "OK I need to know how much you make? Like total household cos 18k on HOBBIES!?I only make 32k a year BEFORE tax."
"The Brookings Institute estimates that it costs $310k (£250k) to raise a child 0-18, and I always thought that was a bit low," another wrote.
A third commented: "Wait until car and college. Save for college now!"
Poppy Bilderbeck