The Majority of Urban Parents in the U.S. Say They Struggle to Meet Household Expenses

Here’s news that won’t surprise any parents: Raising children is really expensive. According to recent Department of Agriculture projections, middle income U.S. parents who had a child in 2013 should expect to spend about $245,340 before she hits 18.

And parents raising children under the age of 18 in U.S. cities feel they have the worst of it, economically speaking, according to the Atlantic Media/Siemens State of the City Poll. Fully 54 percent of urban parents surveyed in our poll said they just meet or don’t even have enough to cover basic expenses. That’s compared to 38 percent of non-urban parents who said the same. Though many childless urban dwellers (44 percent) also said they struggle to fulfill their financial obligations, urban parents appear to having the hardest time: more than one in six (17 percent) said they don't have enough to meet their basic expenses.