7 Expenses of A 21st Century Parent

Congratulations on becoming?a parent! You have a beautiful baby in your hand and you desire to give the best things in the world for your baby. Right? But this desire comes at a cost.

If you are a 21st century parent or soon to become one, you might want to plan for a few expenses that really didn't exist before becoming a parent.?Children born in 2000's need things you could not even dream of at that age.

Here are 7 expenses of new age parenting that you need to consider seriously and plan them well. Else chances of financial sabotage are high.

1. Sky-rocketing Medical Expenses and baby-care products

Because of the sensitiveness of the new-born, they are prone to frequent illness. And as a parent you want the best of the best pediatrician to take care of your baby. And best comes at the cost. The consultation charges of pediatricians are quite expensive compared to general physicians.

The expenses will not stop only to consultation. Every hospital has a new-born vaccination package which will go till 2 years of age. The vaccination package will be around ?25,000 - ?30,000.

First 2-3 years, babies will be very sensitive. You have to use highest quality products and provide special nutrition during this tenure. The high quality baby care products like the diapers, baby soaps, powders, body creams, baby dresses etc are quite expensive compared to the normal personal care products.

Being a parent is a whole new responsibility. From the time of baby delivery till 2 years of age, the medical and personal care expenses, vaccinations, special nutrition will be almost ?4,00,000 to ?5,00,000.

2. Admission to Day Care or hire a baby-sitter

There are 2 reasons why day care has become a mandatory expense of a 21st century parent. One reason is both the parents must work to maintain a healthy lifestyle. And second reason is the families are more nuclear compared to 19th century.

So, requirement of dual income and nuclear families have made them to enroll their kid into a day care service or hire a baby-sitter. This has given?the leverage to work peacefully at their offices.

On an average, a day care center or hiring a baby-sitter will cost ? 5,000 to ?10,000 per month. Annually, it will cost you around ? 1,20,000.

3. Play Schools

Every parent wants to see his child start strong in education and extra-curricular activities. And playschools of today provide this strong foundation. They are not merely alphabet-teaching centers. They employ specially trained pre-school educators and provide a safe environment for kids to thrive in.

Once the child is 2 years of age, the parents will enroll the child at the playschool. These services comes at a cost. It is as high as ? 1,50,000 per year!

A research study say that giving education to pre-schooler is far more expensive than higher education of a teenager.

4. Gadgets & Toys of 21st Generation Children

The parents are surrounded by gadgets like smart phone, laptops, television, smart watches and the list goes on. Obviously, a child who observes his parent using these gadgets will surely crave the advanced gadgets and toys, which you could not even dream of as a child of 70's or 80's.

As a pre-teen, he or she will demand for a Ipod for music, Kindle for a storybook, Playstation for gaming, Smart phone for communication, branded clothes, pocket money.

These fancy gadgets and toys comes at a high price, which somehow have become unavoidable expenses these days. As per research, the average expenses of a pre-teenager from age 8 to 13 will be around ? 12,00,000/-.

5. Summer Camps

The days are gone when summers were just about a vacation to the hometown and staying with relatives and grandparents. The parents want their pre-teens to learn useful skills during the vacation. And summer camp is the place to go for. Summer camps offer diverse activities such as fun projects, science experiments, creative writing, art & craft, music lessons, storytelling to name a few.

Months before summer holidays, parents start looking for good summer camps and enroll their pre-teens. This summer camp enrollment has a significant price tag. The average cost is ?20,000 and upwards per month.??

6. Activity Classes

The reality shows of today showcase children talents. And they come to limelight at a very young age. Every parent would love to see their children on stage showcasing their talents. To hone their talents, they need expert training which happens in activity classes.

Activity classes might be for dance, music, martial arts, painting, calligraphy, abacus, vedic mathematics etc. These classes can be relatively affordable or expensive depending on the activity, the teacher, the batch size, the age of children and even the location.

Depending the above factors, the cost of these classes can be as low as ?2,000 a month to as high as ?10,000 a month.?

7. Coaching for Academics and Sports

Because of the technology, a high school student is exposed to so many career opportunities at a very young age. They voluntarily ask their parents to help them join coaching classes to clear difficult competitive exams, take up home tuition to pass with flying colors in 12th grade.

Earlier sports was limited till 12th grade and we had build our careers based on our academic education. But sports has become such an enticing career opportunity. Teenagers take coaching classes for basketball, football, badminton, cricket, gymnastics and even kabbadi nowadays.

All these coaching classes comes at a significant cost and parents need to consider them seriously. The cost may range from ?2,000 to ?15,000 per month.

Conclusion

These are the expected costs of raising the 21st century child. There might be some more unavoidable expenses. Your teenager kid may ask for aerobics or swimming subscriptions, driving lessons, branded clothes, guitar classes and the list goes on. These expenses might still skyrocket if your child wishes to study abroad and get your child married in a grand way.

If we consider the education cost of a child from age 8 to 21, the total expense to raise a child will be approximately ?85,00,000/-. Let's not forget to factor in the inflation. Considering nominal inflation of 5% year on year, the total expenses to raise your child will add up to ?2 Crore.?

The agenda of the article is not to make you fearful about the upbringing of your child. This is an attempt to make you aware about the expenses and make relevant plans accordingly at the earliest. If not for yourself, for your next generation there is a need of strong financial planning and ethical financial planner beside you to set things well-organized for your child's present and future.

If you have enjoyed this post and if you feel this would help your friends, share it with your nearest and dearest ones. And if you have concerns and struggles regarding your personal finance, comment below.

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