A National Public Radio story, citing a new government estimate, says a middle-income, two-parent family will spend $222,360, on average, to raise a baby born in 2009 through the age of 17.

This naturally does not include college.  

The government report found that housing is the most expensive part of raising a kid. It accounts for 31 percent of the cost, followed by childcare and education (17 percent) and food (16 percent).

Kids get more, rather than less, expensive as they get older. The cost per year to raise a baby is less than $12,000 but a teenager costs most than $13,000 a year. I’m guessing it’s extracurricular activities and trendy clothes that contribute to the added expense, but the story doesn’t say.

The bottom line is eye-popping, but as Mastercard would say:

Price of raising a child: $222,360

Getting to see your offspring’s shining face every morning: Priceless

Health care is an issue that uniquely affects families. I remember as a poor, childless graduate student, I didn’t give much thought to being uninsured for a year or two. But this is a risk few parents voluntarily take. Kids get sick. My son’s brief hospital stay for RSV last year would have set us back more than $6,000 if it weren’t for insurance. And there is all the routine and preventative care that children require. The proportion of our income that having adequate coverage costs us has grown and grown. Especially in this era of stagnant wages. So I’m paying close attention to the health-care debate and hoping fervently that amid all the rancor some meaningful reform will emerge. Because this time it’s our children that will pay if this thing gets shelved for another generation.

The New York Times this week carried an article on a trend toward less consumerism when it comes to shopping for baby in these tough economic times.

It notes that the $343-million “play and discover” market — toys and goods marketed to parents of children under a year old — has fallen by more than a third over the last year and a half.

I like this observation: “Some analysts are surprised at how quickly new parents have begun to wise up,” it reads.

I’m sure many Durango-area parents have been snapping up second-hand baby gear since long before the recession because of the savings but also to reduce their environmental footprint. But it’s nice to know that chichi New Yorkers are doing the same. I’ve often wondered at the sense in buying a $880 Bugaboo stroller when the $50 one we’ve used through two kids works just fine. And second-hand baby gear is easy to find because, as we all know, they don’t stay babies for long. Durango’s many thrift stores are a great place to look as is Durango’s Freecycle group.

The question is, will the shift to second-hand stick? “This new frugality is celebrated by anti-consumerism groups, dreaded by retailers, and mused over by social scientists who say we might be on the cusp of raising a new generation of depression-era babies,” the article states.

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I had an interesting interview about child care with Jeff Katz, co-founder of Mercury Payment Systems (see the story from that interview here). Katz contributed the start-up funding for the Early Childhood Enrichment Center, a Montessori day care (here’s a story I did when the center opened). The point he made during the interview was that the private sector should shoulder a greater part of the burden for quality childcare. 

As a parent with two children in childcare, it’s hard to argue with that. Unlike the public-school years, parents with young children are really on their own. Cost and availability are constant problems. It’s hard for parents to be discriminating about quality when openings that match their schedules and location are few and far between. It can lead many working parents to question whether it’s all worth it, but at the same time many families need to two incomes to get by. 

Only time will tell if private givers can make the difference when it comes to improving child care, but it’s admirable that someone of Katz’ stature is confronting the issue, putting his money where his mouth is. It certainly would be encouraging if others would do the same. Because when it come to investing in children, as Katz said, “it’s really pay now or pay later.”

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Money has often been cited as a top reason couples fight and divorce, and, in tough economic times, it becomes an even greater stressor. This first-person story by a New York Times economics reporter is about how he and his wife found themselves at the brink of financial and marital ruin as a result of a home purchase made shortly after their wedding (both have children from a previous marriage).

The striking thing about this engrossing cautionary tale is how it can happen to anyone, including people who should know better, people who previously had been responsible managers of their money. The article illustrates — and I have learned from personal experience — that we are most vulnerable to making disastrous financial decisions on the heels of major life changes.

In my case, I had a triple whammy: I learned I was pregnant, got a new job and moved out of the country within a matter of months. When I arrived in Mexico City ahead of my husband and four months pregnant, my mission in life was to find and furnish a place for us that would feel like home, a sanctuary in the big noisy city. My credit card, which I had always dutifully paid down each month, was smoking from all the swiping as I went about this goal with the singular focus that only a pregnant woman in full nesting mode can. I would have fleeting moments of panic about my ballooning balance but always reasoned the worry away with the belief that with my new, higher salary, I would have it paid off in no time. I was still thinking as a childless, single person when almost all my income was discretionary. It wasn’t until the baby was born and credit card maxed out that I realized how deeply in the red we were. I was so angry with myself for having introduced this bête noire that was forever scratching at the glass of our new-parent bliss. For what? We wouldn’t have been any less happy eating off a card table and sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Three years later, we’re still digging out but have made significant progress. Like millions of other Americans, we’ve come to appreciate the joys and virtue of frugality. (Full disclosure: I continue to be susceptible to overspending for shoes, organic produce and decent beer or wine). 

So, having heard examples how couples should not — never, ever — manage their money, here’s an interesting discussion on investment Web site The Motley Fool, about finding financial communion in your union.