在美国养孩子的成本有多高?

Middle-income parents who welcomed a new child last year can expect to spend nearly $300,000 over the next 17 years, according to a new report.

对于在去年迎来一位家庭新成员的中等收入美国家庭而言，未来17年里，他们花在这个孩子身上的花费可能是近30万美元。此数字来自美国农业部（U.S. Department of Agriculture）最新发布的家庭子女教育花费报告。

The U.S. Department of Agriculture prepares an annual report about families' expenditures on children for use in developing state child-support and foster-care guidelines. Annual child-rearing expense estimates ranged between $12,290 and $14,320 for a child in a two-child, married-couple family in the middle-income group, which is defined as a before-tax income between $59,410 and $102,870.

Getty Images美国农业部的这份报告每年发布一次，旨在为美国州政府处理子女赡养费用相关问题时提供指引。根据报告，有两名子女的中等收入已婚双亲家庭每年用于一个孩子的抚养开支估计在12,290美元到14,320美元之间。这里所说中等收入家庭是指税前收入在59,410美元到102,870美元之间的家庭。

The amount spent on a child by families in the highest income group, on average, was more than twice the amount spent by families in the lowest income group. A child born last year to someone in the lowest income group would cost $212,370 over 17 years, compared to $490,830 for highest earners.

平均而言，收入水平最高的家庭未来用于孩子的花销预计会是低收入家庭的两倍多。低收入家庭未来17年里用于抚养一个去年所出生孩子的费用预计为212,370美元，而高收入家庭的花费将为490,830美元。

The biggest share of the expense in raising a child, according to the report, is housing at 30%, followed by child-care and education at 18%, food at 16%, transportation at 14% and health care at 8%.

根据这份报告，抚养孩子所需的最大开销是住房，占比30%；其次是子女看护和教育，占比18%；食物占比为16%；交通占比14%，医疗保健为8%。

The report has been compiled since 1960, when adjusted for inflation, a middle-income two parent household would have spent around $192,000 over 17 years in 2011 dollars to raise a child. The biggest change over 50 years is the share of expenses going to child-care and education, which was just 2% in 1960.

这份报告自1960年开始发布，而按照2011年的币值计算，经过通货膨胀因素调整后，当年中等收入双亲家庭在未来17年里用于一个孩子的花销为19.2万美元左右。这50多年里，最大的变化在于子女看护和教育的开支占比明显增加了，1960年时看护和教育在全部费用中的比例仅有2%。

On a regional basis, it cost the most to raise a child in the urban northeast of the U.S. and least in rural areas of the country.

按地区看，在美国东北部的城市中抚养孩子的成本最高，而农村地区的成本最低。

If you're already balking at the quarter-million dollar price tag, consider this: the report stops at age 17. Parents who send their children to college can add a significant sum to the total. The report notes estimate by the College Board that in 2011-2017, annual average tuition and fees were $28,500 at 4-year private (non-profit) colleges, while annual room and board was $10,089.

如果你已经被这几十万美元的数字吓着了，再想想这个吧：这份报告估算的费用只截止到17岁。对于那些要送孩子上大学的父母来说，这总数上面还要加上一笔不菲的费用。这份报告在注解中列出，美国大学理事会(College Board)预计2011到2017学年四年制私立（非营利）大学的年度平均学费和各种杂费总计为2.85万美元，每年的食宿费用为10,089美元。