I feel like an idiot for falling for that "$2.5 million" to raise a child figure

[Mike 03]

I apologize for wasting everybody's time with that stupid post.

You guys were right: that figure is absurd. Sometimes preposterous things sound so believeable when you hear them on an All-News radio station you have listened to for years. I'm ashamed I believed that (impossible) figure. After I'd made that post, when I was contemplatin it, I recognized it had to be bogus unless they were including the medical costs that will probably be necessary to take care of these particular kids (the octuplets) because of their premature status and some of the medical issues that often accompany being born this prematurely. But I doubt that is the case; it is more likely, as you suggested, they misplaced a decimal point. But still, that is hard to believe that a reporter could be so reckless.

KNX, the radio station that issued this as 'fact' probably realized this was an impossible figure and that is most likely why I'm unable to locate the podcast, and unlike other "reports" like this one, they did not re-run it overnight. I was hoping to record it so I could transcribe it directly.

By the same token, $250,000 sounds way too low. Isn't that figure over ten years old?

Also, what is the definition of "raise a child?" Maybe providing the very bare necessities like food (I ate like a fucking horse when I was a teenager; it was a disgrace) and clothing, you could squeak by, but what about ancillary costs such as:

Health insurance
Telecommunications like separate phones, cable bills, cell phones if you are the kind of parent who believes the children should have these
Moving to a larger house because you need bedrooms now that you have kids--needing more space!
Then, when you have more space, it costs more to heat and cool it.
Not just feeding them, but feeding them healthfully and well
All the other stuff that kids need to participate in extra-curricular activities, like sports equipment, supplies for elective classes, a good computer (which has become a necessity)

And them some of the biggies, like:

Buying them a car or a used car
Saving up for them to go to college.

This is where I have trouble believing the $250,000 figure. If you send your kid to a good university nowadays, you can easily spend over a hundred thousand right there for room/board, tuition, textbooks, gas, and some money for discretionary spending.

Just as a shot in the dark, if you include the car and college--and attempting to control for inflation--I would have to make a wild guess that it would cost somewhere between $500,000 and $700,000 to raise a kid born in 2009.

But I'm laughing heartily at myself for believing that $2.5 million figure and the notion that this woman in Los Angeles will need $35 million to raise these fourteen children.

You guys were right. That is a preposterous assertion.

ON EDIT

Just a thought. I wonder if the cost of raising each child is exponential in the sense that raising one child costs X amount, but if you have two, three, etc.., the cost of raising each child is X+(some number) as the basic needs for a larger house, larger car, etc become more manifest.

[FreakinDJ]

1. I have trouble believing the Doctor who did that still has his license

Talk about malpractice

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Oh, don't say that!

I was admonished, last night in a thread about this subject, that being against some woman having eight frozen embryos skip-loaded into her uterus was "choice" and was I against choice?

There are times I wonder just what possessed me to quit drinking.

[FreakinDJ]

6. Fallacy to think she can raise 14 children properly

and lets not even talk about financially

Between cleaning how much time do you think she will have to interact with each child?

14 -15 minutes per day

[BlooInBloo]

2. Are you capable of calculating figures for an annuity?

Or similar objects?

Seeing as how it isn't required to have all the dough up-front.

[katanalori]

4. WHY

a car? college? Let the kids pay for these things themselves, like many of us did.
I don't see why we must assume that a parent needs to pay for everything. The kids will learn more if
they actually EARN things for themselves. I worked since age 7 (picking cros, mowing lawns, shoveling
snow) and all kids in our family put our earnings into a family pot - and we did it happily.
Our cars and educations ( 3 out of 5 with college degrees) we paid for ourselves.
Cost of raising a child can vary greatly, depending on what the parents feel they "owe" the children.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

8. Such a big heart you have........

Clearly, since you were mowing lawns and shoveling snow at the tender age of seven - a claim I find laughable - you are an immensely independent person.

Got any children?

A good parent wants to give a child everything. Not just what they, the parent, might not have had, but more. Better. A good parent wants to send his or her child into the world with every advantage. There is never the thought that you "owe" your children.

I'm sorry that you came from a home where you obviously failed to learn some important lessons.

Your post suggests all that manual labor before the soft spot in your head was ready left you deficient in lots of other ways.

Welcome to DU, I might add, with a big old laugh at that one.

[BlooInBloo]

10. (shrug) It's just how some people are.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

11. I know,

and I'm just how some people are, too.

:toast:

[BlooInBloo]

12. Heh indeedy.

[Still Sensible]

5. I.m sure there would be some economies of scale

with 14 kids and all... but the mental health treatment required to deal with 14 kids would probably shoot that to hell.

[Nikia]

7. I think that the cost per child goes down the more you have

More so when you have them serially, of course, because you can reuse some if the expensive, short use baby items. Even with multiples though, you can get away with fewer toys, since they can share. The same is true of things like television and other home entertainment. Buying food in bulk and making large meals usually lowers the cost per serving. You may need a bigger house if you have many children, but your square foot per child needs is usually smaller the more children you have. Some extracurriculiars give discounts per child to families with multiple children in a program. Some zoos, mueseums, and other such public activites sometimes have "family admission". There are probably other examples as well.

[kiranon]

9. But, if they have special needs, the cost goes through the roof.

Preemies often are special needs kids. With 8 at one time, there will be no hand me down car seats, clothes or other items. Buying in bulk won't make up for how much has to be bought. Just buying milk and carrying it home for 14 children will be quite a logistical problem for a single parent. She will need several people at home to watch the children while she shops as there is no way she can shop with 14 children in tow. As said in another posting, hope she makes a bundle because she and the children will need it.

[madrchsod]

13. a hundred years ago children were an asset measured in dollars

i guess we have come a long way in 100 yrs, now they are an expenditure