The Rising Cost of Raising a Child: What Families Are Facing

Every fall brings the same rhythm: new backpacks, first-day-of-school photos, and a fresh round of expenses that seem to grow a little more each year. But you’re not imagining the sticker shock. Whether you're packing lunches for a kindergartner, writing tuition checks for a college freshman, or somewhere in between, the cost of raising a child in the U.S. has reached a point that's reshaping how families budget, save, and plan.

Here's the number that sums it up: raising a child through age 18 now costs an additional $303,418 — the first time that figure has topped $300,000, and a jump of nearly 28% in just three years. And that's before a single college tuition bill arrives.

If you're a parent feeling the squeeze, you're not alone. Below, we'll break down what each stage of childhood really costs right now, from daycare to college, including the extras that don't always make it into the budget. Then we'll look at a resource many families are sitting on without realizing it — and how you might put it to work. Here's what we'll cover:

• Daycare and childcare: the early crunch
• Summer camp: the seasonal budget-buster
• Back-to-school and K-12 costs
• Private school tuition
• The college years: tuition, housing, and beyond
• The full picture: what it all adds up to
• A resource you might be overlooking: your home equity
• How to know if accessing your equity is right for you
• Frequently asked questions

Daycare and childcare: the early crunch

For many families, the financial reality of parenthood hits hardest before a child ever sets foot in a classroom. The national average price of childcare reached $13,184 a year in 2025.

To put that in perspective, that annual price tag makes up 10% of a two-parent household's median income and 33% of a single parent’s. Infant care can run even higher, averaging roughly $14,760 a year at a daycare center.

Perhaps the most eye-opening comparison: center-based infant care now costs more than in-state public college tuition in the majority of states. For families with two little ones in care, that math can feel impossible — childcare for two children exceeds median rent in every state with available data.

It's no wonder that, in one recent survey, the average parent reported spending 22% of their household income on childcare, and 20% reported going into debt to afford childcare.

Summer camp: the seasonal budget-buster

Just when the school-year childcare bills pause, summer arrives with its own price tag. For working parents, summer camp isn't a luxury — it often provides essential coverage for the months when school is out. And it's getting pricier fast.

Day camp averaged about $87 per day based on 2024 data, which adds up to more than $400 a week per child. Overnight camp roughly doubles that, at around $173 per day.

Multiply a few weeks of camp across a summer — and across more than one child — and it's easy to see how a season of "keeping the kids busy" can rival a mortgage payment.

Back-to-school and K-12 costs

Once the school year begins, the spending shifts to supplies, clothes, and technology. Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $863.86 on back-to-school shopping in 2026, pushing total K-12 back-to-school spending to a record $43.3 billion nationwide.

Where does all that money go? The typical family's budget breaks down, roughly, like this:

• Electronics: $293.11
• Clothing and accessories: $250.29
• Shoes: $174.01
• School supplies: $146.45

And that's just the start-of-year haul. It doesn't account for the extracurriculars, field trips, sports fees, and mid-year replacements that trickle in over the following nine months.

Private school tuition

For families who choose private education, the numbers climb steeply. The national average for private K-12 tuition sits at $14,999 a year, with elementary schools averaging around $14,018 and high schools closer to $17,954.

Costs vary widely by region and school type — tuition in the most expensive states can run well over $28,000 a year, and elite independent or boarding schools reach far higher. For a family with more than one child in private school, tuition alone can rival a second mortgage.

The college years: tuition, housing, and beyond

If the early years are defined by childcare and the middle years by supplies and activities, the teen years bring the single largest expense most families will ever face for a child: college.

For the 2025-26 school year, average published tuition and fees came in at:

• Public four-year, in-state: $11,950
• Public four-year, out-of-state: $31,880
• Private nonprofit four-year: $45,000

But tuition is only part of the cost. Once you factor in housing, food, books, and other essentials, the total estimated cost of attendance jumps to roughly $30,990 a year for in-state public students and $65,470 a year at private nonprofit colleges.

Even if you plan to lean on student loans for tuition, there are a few additional school costs that often catch families off guard:

• Housing and food. Room and board averages about $14,034 a year at public four-year schools — and those costs have been rising faster than tuition itself. Over four years, housing and food alone can total more than $54,760.
• Books and supplies. Course materials and textbooks add $1,000 on average, and that's before the laptop or computer most first-year students buy.
• Technology. First-year students spend around $800 a year on technology, with the majority purchasing a computer for school.

Stretch that across four years (and/or across multiple kids) and college can easily become a substantial line item.

The full picture: what it all adds up to

The costs of raising a child don't arrive all at once; they compound for two decades or more. Daycare gives way to camp and school supplies, which give way to activities and possibly private tuition, which give way to college. And through all of it, the total cost of raising a child keeps climbing — up nearly 28% in just three years.

For most families, these aren't discretionary expenses they can simply cut; they're the fundamentals required to set kids up for success. This raises a hard question: where’s the money supposed to come from?

A resource you might be overlooking: your home equity

Here's something many parents don't stop to consider in the middle of the daycare-camp-tuition scramble: if you own your home, you may be sitting on one of the largest financial resources you'll ever have.

U.S. homeowners currently hold a near-record $34.9 trillion in home equity. For many individual homeowners, that translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars of value built up in the home — value that's real, but not exactly easy to spend on a tuition bill.

And that's the catch. A lot of homeowners feel the pressure of rising costs, even while that equity sits just out of reach. In our own 2025 survey of 1,000 homeowners, 54.5% reported feeling moderately to extremely financially stressed, and 45% named rising homeownership costs as their top financial concern.

Selling their home would unlock that value — but for most families, that's not on the table, especially if they locked in a low mortgage rate years ago. More than half of homeowners now say there's no mortgage rate that would make them comfortable selling this year. They want to stay put, and also need breathing room.

The good news: selling isn't the only way to tap into your home's value. A home equity investment (sometimes called a home equity agreement) is an option that isn’t a home equity loan or a HELOC. With a home equity investment, you receive cash today in exchange for a share of your home's future value — with no monthly payments and up to 10 years to settle. It isn't a home equity loan or a HELOC, and it doesn't require you to give up your current mortgage rate. You could use the funds for whatever your family needs most, whether that's tuition, childcare, or simply more room in the monthly budget.

Like any financing option, a home equity investment has a cost, and you settle it — at or before the end of the 10-year term — through a refinance, loan, buyout with savings, or sale of your home. But for families who want to put their equity to work without taking on a new monthly payment, it can be a sensible option, and one that too few homeowners even know about.

How to know if accessing your equity is right for you

Every family's situation is different, and there are no one-size-fits-all answers when it comes to your finances. The right move depends on your goals, your timeline, and your comfort level.

Wondering if a home equity investment could help your family manage rising costs? Take the Fit Quiz to see if it's a good solution for your situation.