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Nobody said raising a child would be easy or cheap, but I bet you didn’t know that for a middle-income family, it would cost about $234,900. MSNBC reports on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recently released annual report “Expenditures on Children by Families,” which calculates the price of a child for the first 17 years of life. And yes, the price just keeps getting higher and higher.

Back in 1960, a middle income family could expect to spend about $25,000 on a child. If you adjust for inflation, that figure today would be $191,720. Among the costs, housing is the biggest expense, with child care, education, food and transportation adding up next in that order.

Although spending on food has in fact decreased since 1960, from 24 percent to 16 percent, child care costs and education have risen from two percent to 18 percent.

Parents are also spending less on clothes, choosing to bypass expensive footwear and other name brands for cheaper alternatives. Moms and dads have reduced clothing costs from 11 percent in 1960 to six percent today.

Since 1960, food expenditures have actually declined to 16 percent of income from 24 percent, while the cost of child care and education has soared to 18 percent of income from 2 percent.

For a breakdown of annual child costs per income level, take a look at the USDA calculation chart provided by MSNBC.

Households with annual income less than $59,410: $8,760 to $9,970, depending on the child’s age.

Households with income of up to $102,870: $12,290 to $14,320.

Households with income over $102,870: $20,420 to $24,510.

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