Employee benefits traditionally provide not only for workers but also those of their immediate family members, such as their spouse and children. And as a recent survey suggests, the typical parent spends more than $10,000 on their children every year.
According to the survey, which was performed by parenting advice company BabyCenter, parents devote approximately $13,000 to their children on an annual basis. When the respondents – all of them moms – were asked if they considered this to be too much to spend on their kids, more than two-thirds said "yes."
"Children are expensive, but couples aren't letting that hold them back from starting a family," said Carmen Wong Ulrich, financial expert at BabyCenter. "They are exploring ways of saving that they may not have previously considered, like moving back in with their parents or accepting money from in-laws."
She added that one of the biggest obstacles for parents is budgeting for their children, often times spending more than they should. To help defray some of the cost, young parents will often enlist their own parents for help by living with them for a period while they gather more savings. The survey found that mothers who are expecting like to have at least $4,500 on reserve before their baby is born. Additionally, nearly one-third said that they continue to accept financial assistance from their parents in their child's first year if they offer it.
Though there are many components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that consumers and business owners don't like, a provision that's proven to be popular is the one that disallows insurers from no longer covering children after the turn 18 or 21. The ACA mandated that through the age of 26, children could remain on their parents' health insurance plans.
