Raising a Child Gets More Expensive in NJ [AUDIO]

The cost of raising a child in the Garden State continues to rise.

A new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds a middle-income family with a child born in 2012 can expect to spend about $241,080 ($301,970 adjusted for projected inflation) for food, shelter, and other necessities associated with child-rearing expenses over the next 17 years.

This represents a 2.6 percent increase from 2011.

"For the typical child in a typical middle-income family, the expenses range between $12,600 to $14,700 per year," says the author of the study, economist Mark Lino.

As far as where the money goes over 18 years, he says, "thirty percent of overall costs on a child went to housing, 18 percent went to child care or education for those with the expense, 16 percent went to food - 14 percent went to transportation, eight percent to healthcare, eight percent went to miscellaneous, and six percent went to clothing."

He also points out expenses increased as household income increased, especially for miscellaneous items.

The full report, Expenditures on Children by Families (2012) is available online.  In addition, families can enter the number and ages of their children to obtain an estimate of costs through an interactive web version of the report.