The Cost of Having Children Will Only Get More Absurd

Most people paying attention to the economy concern themselves with the jobs report, which (at least this month) looks somewhat promising. But while having a job to support your family matters a great deal, what also matters is how much you’re not actually going to be able to afford things for your family with the money you make at said job.

As the Huffington Post points out, a new analysis of Bureau of Labor data by the Brookings Institution reveals that while certain goods have decreased in cost over the last decade-plus, others have gotten much much more expensive:

The prices of a number of good and services have outpaced median income. For example, the price of hospital services and child care and tuition has grown by an astounding 200 percent faster than median wage. Prices have outpaced income in housing rental, legal and professional services, and hotels and lodging as well. These large sectors and the high prices they charge are contributing heavily to the slipping economic position of American households.

The category of hospital services, child care and tuition has grown 200 percent faster than the median wage. If that number isn’t impressive on its own, check out the chart they’ve put together, which compares median income with the change in the price of certain types of goods. It demonstrates how much just child care and tuition is rising above all other categories:

On the upside, if you can’t afford to send your kid to school, just buy them a computer: they’re getting cheaper and cheaper!