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I'm starting a healthy snack food line for kids ages 4-12. In the US, what is the average spend per household for kids snacks and meals?
Hello! Thanks for your question about the average spend per household on children for snacks and meals. The short answer is that an average of 18 percent of the total cost to raise a child goes towards food. Based on a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report published in January of 2017, a middle-income married-couple family unit can expect to spend $12,850 to $13,900 annually in total for a child born in 2015. Please read on for a deep dive of my research and findings.
COST OF RAISING A CHILD
The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) published its "2015 Expenditures on Children by Families report" in January of 2017.
This report was compiled by economists at the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP).
There are many factors that go into how much parents will spend on their child overall (from birth to age 17) and annually. One is total household income. The report states that "a middle-income married-couple family will spend between $12,350 and $13,900 annually (in 2015 dollars) – or $233,610 from birth through age 17 – on child-rearing expenses. Families with lower incomes are expected to spend $174,690 and families with higher incomes are expected to spend $372,210 from birth through age 17." The USDA report defines middle-income as a before-tax income of $59,200 to $107,000. Lower-income families fall bellow $59,200, and higher-income families fall above $107,000. However, as Bloomberg notes, this cost does not take into account college related expenses, or non-parental contributions, such as government aid.
Another factor that affects cost is the number and ages of children in a household. Put simply, the more children there are in a family, the less each child will cost-- an "economics of scale." So, as compared with the average child in a two-child family, a family with only one child will spend 27% more on their only child, and families that have three or more children will spend 24% less per child than a two-child household.
The total cost of raising a child also depends on the region where the family lives. The urban Northeast had the highest child-rearing expenses. The urban South and urban West fell below this. The cheapest place to raise a child was the urban Midwest, followed by rural areas. Overall, expenses related to children were 24% lower in rural areas as compared to the urban Northeast.
FOOD RELATED EXPENSES
Overall, the USDA estimates that families spend 18% of the total amount of child-rearing costs on food. Using the average spent by a middle-income family, $233,610, we can assume that from birth to age 17, middle-income families spend an average of $42,050 on food for one child (18% of the total cost).
There are several variables that affect exactly how much a family will spend on food for a child. According to the report: "...the shares of the food budget spent on children ranged between 17 to 25 percent per child for a child in a two-child, married couple family. For a two-child, single-parent family, these shares are higher, 25 to 34 percent per child, because there is one less person in a single-parent family. The share of the food budget spent on children generally increased with the age of the child with little variation by household income level."
The USDA also publishes "Official USDA Food Plans." They offer the cost of food at four averages: a thrifty plan, low-cost plan, moderate-cost plan, and liberal plan. For children ages four to five, weekly cost for food ranges from $25.20 (the thrifty plan) to $48. As stated above, costs go up as the child gets older. For nine to eleven-year-olds, a "thrifty" plan costs an average of $36.40 per week and a liberal meal plan costs $72.60 per week.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, families spend on average 18% of the total cost of a child on food, or about $42,050 for a middle-income family. Overall, percent spent on food out of total child-rearing costs ranges from 17 to 25 percent. For single parents, that cost rises to 25 to 34 percent per child.
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