The cost of a child in 2019

Many families in the UK have found it increasingly difficult to cover the cost of bringing up children in recent years. Costs have risen faster than incomes. Parents are reluctant to see their children go without essentials, yet those on low incomes may face a stark choice between not meeting their children’s needs, making severe material sacrifices themselves or going into debt. Since 2012, a series of calculations supported by the Child Poverty Action Group have systematically monitored the minimum cost of a child. This eighth report in the series updates those calculations. It highlights the growing significance of the benefit cap and the ‘two-child limit’ on means-tested benefits, together with the increasingly complex system for government support with childcare costs.