A Baby’s First Year Cost Is One-Third Of Illinois Parent’s Income

As a father of a 3-year-old and an almost 1-year-old, I can tell you that raising a baby in 2025 is expensive. Everything costs so much and there is no way to combat it. Plus, it sucks when you go to the store to get diapers, formula, food, or whatever, and you can't find all of the things you need for your kid at one store. It's been happening a lot lately.

If you're a parent but your baby or babies are in their teens or older, you might think I'm just complaining. Trust me, raising a child isn't a cheap thing to do and being a parent is a hard job.

Raising a baby Chicago, one of the most expensive cities to live in, also can be extremely hard when most of your money is going to rent, groceries, and everything else just to live there.

It seems that with every new year and a new President sitting in the Oval Office, things continue to get more expensive, especially for parents. You might think that the child tax breaks offset some of those costs, and they do, but to even get a full $2,000 per kid back on your taxes might help out with 2 months of daycare and that's if you take your kid to a place not charging through the roof.

For those becoming first-time parents this year, let me add a little stress and knowledge into your brain. This is how much everyone else, including you, will be forking out to raise a baby for its first year.

One-Third Of Your Income Goes To Your Newborn Baby

BabyCenter has put out how much it costs parents to raise a baby for the first year in 2025. The first year of raising a child costs about $20,384. That's just for common expenses and baby items you need. Essential items if you will.

BabyCenter found this out with data from nearly 1,400 parents and an up-to-date First-Year Baby Costs Calculator.

These were some of the key points from BabyCenter's updated research:

• EXPENSE INCREASE: Two in three (66%) parents say they expect their family’s expenses to go up this year.
• ONE-THIRD OF INCOME GONE: Baby costs currently make up about 31% of parents' total household income, and are expected to increase this year.
• TOP 5 EXPENSES: Childcare, feeding, setting up the nursery, diapering, and baby gear (strollers, car seats, etc.).
• MONEY STRESS: 9 in 10 moms say their finances are taking a toll on their mental well-being and causing a lot of stress at home.

Babies are great. My wife and I want more and if you do too, you'll have to face the fact that things are expensive. By things, I mean kids because sometimes they act like a thing.