Once inflation is counted, raising a child cost boomer parents almost exactly what it costs American parents today, federal figures show.
In 1980, when the oldest baby boomers were in their mid-30s, the US Department of Agriculture put the cost of raising a child to 18, excluding college, at about $65,000 (£48,600) in 1978 dollars. Adjusted with the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index, that equals about $321,000 (£240,100) in 2025 dollars. The figure most widely cited today, from the financial services company Northwestern Mutual, is $320,661 (£239,900) for the same 18 years.
