He increase in household expensesespecially in dwelling and foodhas fired the cost of raising a child up to 758 euros per month. This supposes a 13% more than two years agowhen it was 654 euros, according to the report The Cost of Parenting in Spain 2024 released this Tuesday by Save the Children.
One in two families with children must allocate more than half of their income to expenses related to housing, education, food, health or leisure, among others, while increases the risk of poverty by 70% in homes with minors.
Catalunya is the most expensive community for breeding, with an average cost of 938 euros per month. The cheapest is Andalusiawith 722 euros per month. The other autonomous communities analyzed also present monthly costs higher than the national average: País Valencià, 839 euros; Euskadi, 866 euros; and Community of Madrid, 896.
“Raising is expensive, which influences the decision to have a child” in Spain, where they are born 1.16 children per womanthe lowest rate in all of Europe, highlights this study, which calculates the expense that families must face at the different stages of their children’s lives.
The analysis recalls that 20% of women over 40 with sons or daughters would have wanted to have more, and Of those who have not been mothers, almost half would have wanted itas revealed by the Fertility, Family and Childhood Survey published in September 2024 by the Sociological Research Center (CIS).
Housing, a key expense
The calculation of the cost of parenting carried out by the child protection entity has evolved since the 587 euros in 2018 (before the pandemic) and 672 euros in 2022to 758 in 2024. Families with children face a specific inflation above average, which is called “parenting inflation”located between 37% and 51%.
However, they have been households with minors which have suffered mainly the impact of the increase in food expenses (26% in two years), as well as housing and its supplies (63% from 2022), which account for four out of every ten euros.
Save the Children points out that the 43% of boys and girls live in homes with serious difficulties in meeting unforeseen expensesan increase of four percentage points compared to 2022. As stated Andres Condegeneral director of the entity: “Parenting represents a considerable economic burden for families, especially in adolescence, and has become a significant risk factor for poverty.”
The cost by age
Expenses vary depending on the ages of the minors. Up to three years, it is 609 euros, covered mainly by conciliation expenses – such as nursery schools -, housing – adapting spaces – and food. From four to six years old it rises to 692 euros, and from 13 to 17 the monthly cost is 807 euros. From seven to 12 years old, the maximum amount is reached, with 812 euros.
The stages close to adolescence and until adulthood accumulate the highest expenses, due to changes in rooms or the purchase of more food, despite the fact that toys are stopped, although not technological devices.
“Fresh fish is too expensive”
The poverty figure for single-parent homes It is especially worrying: half of the 530,000 homes of this type are at risk of poverty.
One of them is the one that forms Inma and his 12-year-old son: “We buy less and less things. Fish rarely because we usually end up going to get the same bag of frozen foods. Fresh is too expensive to be buying it with a more or less normal frequency”.
Inma’s is one of the real testimonies that puts a face to the study’s figures. Her son goes to an institute with ASD classrooms (dedicated to minors with Autism Spectrum Disorder), but she regrets its lack of resources: “I can’t pay for therapies, I do them at homebut I do what I can as a mother, because since I am not his therapist I cannot treat him.
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