Cost of raising a child calculator
Put in your own monthly spend and see the running total from birth to 18. Averages hide a great deal, so this works from your household rather than a headline figure.
The reference figures exclude housing and childcare and are an order-of-magnitude guide, not your personal total.
How the estimate is built
The total is your monthly spend multiplied out over 18 years, which is 216 months. Keeping it in today’s money makes the number easy to reason about, and it avoids stacking guesses about inflation on top of guesses about spending. The point is to turn a vague worry into a figure you can plan around, using your own household rather than a national average.
The reference figures on the right come from the Child Poverty Action Group’s long-running work on the cost of a child. They cover the basic cost to 18 but leave out housing and childcare, so they sit below what most families actually spend once nursery fees and a share of the mortgage are counted. Treat them as a sense-check on the order of magnitude, not a target.
Worked example
Suppose the early years look like £400 of childcare, £180 of food, £60 on clothing, £80 on activities and £100 on everything else. That is £820 a month, or £9,840 a year. Held flat for 18 years it comes to £177,120. In practice the childcare line drops sharply once school starts, so a more careful plan would model the pre-school and school years with different figures.
Where the money goes each month
| Category | Monthly | Across 18 years |
|---|---|---|
| Childcare | £400 | £86,400 |
| Food | £180 | £38,880 |
| Clothing | £60 | £12,960 |
| Activities & hobbies | £80 | £17,280 |
| Everything else | £100 | £21,600 |
| Total | £820 | £177,120 |
Common questions
How much does it cost to raise a child in the UK?
Independent estimates put the basic cost of a child to 18, before housing and childcare, at roughly £166,000 for a couple and £220,000 for a lone parent, from the Child Poverty Action Group. Add childcare and a share of housing and the real figure is higher, which is why this tool works from your own monthly spend.
What does this calculator include?
It multiplies the monthly amounts you enter, across childcare, food, clothing, activities and anything else, over 18 years. It is a today’s-money estimate, so it does not add inflation or interest. Change the inputs to reflect your own household rather than an average one.
Why is childcare such a large part of the cost?
For pre-school years childcare is often the single biggest line, sometimes larger than food and clothing combined. It usually falls away once a child starts school, so a realistic estimate treats the early years and school years differently rather than assuming a flat monthly figure for all 18 years.
Does this include university costs?
No. The estimate stops at age 18, so university tuition, maintenance and living costs are separate. Many families plan for those through longer-term saving, which is why pairing this with a savings projection gives a fuller picture of the money involved.
Is the cost the same for a second child?
Usually a second child costs less than the first because some items are shared or handed down, such as furniture, equipment and clothes. Childcare and food still scale with each child, so the saving is real but partial rather than the whole cost being halved.