{"id":201312,"date":"2025-09-05T03:58:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T03:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/201312\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T03:58:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T03:58:11","slug":"the-cost-of-raising-kids-has-gotten-out-of-control-parents-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/201312\/","title":{"rendered":"The cost of raising kids has ‘gotten out of control,’ parents say"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"play\"<\/p>\n

From allowances to bills: 1 In 2 parents finance their adult kids<\/p>\n

More young adults are relying on their parents for financial support, with 50% of parents assisting their grown children, up from 47% last year and 45% in 2023, according to a Savings.com report.\u00a0
\nParents contribute an average of $1,474 monthly toward expenses, marking a three-year high.<\/p>\n

unbranded – Lifestyle<\/p>\n

Most Americans are feeling the squeeze<\/a> as inflation<\/a> and tariffs<\/a> impact everyday products, such as fast food<\/a>, board games<\/a>, clothes and home goods<\/a>. Parents, especially, are overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

But new survey data shows that while having kids is expensive, children are good motivators for parents to get their finances in order.<\/p>\n

In a recent survey of 2,500 Americans by BMO Financial Group<\/a>, 71% of parents with children under 18 said they felt overwhelmed by their financial responsibilities, compared with 54% of respondents without children at home. But 60% of parents set a yearly budget compared with 37% of respondents without children. Parents were also more likely than non-parents to set financial goals, have a written financial plan and have a professional financial advisor.<\/p>\n

Sticker shock: <\/strong>Are American consumers learning to live with inflation?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cParents today report feeling significant financial pressure<\/a> \u2212 but they\u2019re also stepping up in powerful ways to take control of their family\u2019s financial plans,\u201d Paul Dilda, who is in charge of consumer strategy at BMO, said in a recent news release.<\/p>\n

Parents are feeling the pressure \u2212 but planning can help<\/p>\n

In the survey, 83% of respondents said the cost of raising kids had “gotten out of control,” and 77% of parents said that they felt pressure to keep up with other families by spending more than they should. Social media plays a role, too, with 80% of parents saying content from parenting influencers<\/a> fuels their financial anxiety.<\/p>\n

More: <\/strong>Trump’s sweeping law increases child care tax credits. Here’s how much and who benefits.<\/a><\/p>\n

Another survey<\/a> of 3,000 parents by Ameriprise Financial, a financial services company, produced similar findings. More than 7 in 10 respondents said they experienced parental guilt that resulted in overcompensating with small perks or overspending on their children<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nearly 9 in 10 parents said they planned to pay for some portion of their children’s college education, the Ameriprise survey found, and 57% those parents said they would probably or definitely help their children financially after they left the nest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many parents are forced to think in terms of trade-offs, the study found, weighing the importance of family trips against retirement savings or their children’s college funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research confirms what most\u00a0parents in the throes of caregiving are thinking: balancing family\u00a0finances\u00a0while juggling shifting priorities can feel challenging,\u201d Deana Healy, who oversees financial planning at Ameriprise, said in a news release.<\/p>\n

But it is possible to attain financial confidence, Healy said, even for parents. The trick? Careful planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cParenting brings so much joy. But it can come with so many expectations and competing priorities, especially when it comes to managing family\u00a0finances,\u201d Healy said. \u201cOur advice: be clear with your financial priorities today, so you don\u2019t lose sight of the future goals you\u2019re working so hard to achieve for yourself and your family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parents in the survey said they supported their children in making smart financial decisions by opening savings accounts for them, encouraging them to save for short-term goals and involving them in family financial decisions. More than half of parents in the survey paid their kids an allowance, and 96% of parents used the Tooth Fairy to give their children an extra few bucks (average Tooth Fairy<\/a> payout is $5 per tooth, the study found).<\/p>\n

Vanguard<\/a> also found that parents are spending more than they expected on their kids, and those financial losses are compounded by not putting savings in high-yield accounts. High-yield accounts “build a financial buffer for everyday expenditures and moments when it\u2019s needed most,” Matt Benchener, Managing Director of Vanguard\u2019s Personal Investor business, said in a news release.<\/p>\n

Madeline Mitchell’s role covering women and the caregiving economy at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with\u00a0Pivotal<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Journalism Funding Partners<\/a>. Funders do not provide editorial input.<\/p>\n

Reach Madeline at\u00a0memitchell@usatoday.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0@maddiemitch_<\/a>\u00a0on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From allowances to bills: 1 In 2 parents finance their adult kids More young adults are relying on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":201313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[24715,64,13332,4685,246,18217,39461,6139,111344,20311,19877,18302,3628,942,50,1539,450,950,4757,255,111342,615,2175,646,67,132,68,111343],"class_list":{"0":"post-201312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-adjustment","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-cost","11":"tag-cost-of-living-adjustment","12":"tag-family","13":"tag-financial","14":"tag-financial-planning-u0026-management","15":"tag-grant","16":"tag-grant-pivotal-ventures","17":"tag-import","18":"tag-import-tariffs","19":"tag-living","20":"tag-management","21":"tag-neutral","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-of","24":"tag-overall","25":"tag-overall-neutral","26":"tag-parenting","27":"tag-personal-finance","28":"tag-pivotal","29":"tag-planning","30":"tag-tariffs","31":"tag-u0026","32":"tag-united-states","33":"tag-unitedstates","34":"tag-us","35":"tag-ventures"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115149688577210690","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}