Every year, many families move to Canada to start afresh. Well, here’s how much Canadian families spend on their children. Newcomer families often spend the majority of their income on expenses related to children. This is why the question of what expenses to expect in Canada can be crucial. A recent study by Statistics Canada offers essential insights into the matter. The study broke down families by income level & family size.
By income, a few families were sorted into three categories:
- Low-Income: Income lower than $83,013 annually
- Middle-Income: Income up to $83,013 to $137,790 annually
- High-Income: Income over $137,790 annually
In addition, by family size, groups were sorted into single, two, & three child households.
How Much Canadian Families Spend On Children?
Among families having two parents, families spent the amount mentioned below on each child from 0-17 years of age:
- Low-Income: $238,190
- Middle-Income: $293,000
- Higher-Income: $403,910
When compared to the data of family groups who spent on children aged 0-22, the amount was as follows:
- Low-Income: $308,710
- Middle-Income: $378,900
- High-Income: $521, 270
This comparison reveals that an extra five years can drastically change expenses as children grow older in Canada. In addition, a general finding of this study is that if children aged between 18-22 were still at home, total expenditures per child increased between $68,000 to $117,000.
Well, much of this account can be due to post-secondary tuition fees. This number becomes more relevant when considering that over 90% of adults aged 18-19 & around 68% of children aged 20-24 live at home.
What Child-Related Expenses Cost The most?
In continuation of how much Canadian families spend on their children, here is the total amount of expenditure per child:
- Housing – 29%
- Food – 17%
- Transportation – 20%
- Childcare & Education – 14%
- Miscellaneous – 10%
- Healthcare – 4%
- Clothing – 7%
Does This Change With The Number Of Children?
The findings of the study vary with the size of the family. For instance, the total expenses for children from single-child households were:
- Low-Income: $290,580
- Middle-Income: $373,500
- High-Income: $545,580
These numbers are quite higher than the numbers of two-child households. This logic would hold since, with fewer children to care for, parents in single-child households are free to spend more of their income on one child. Similarly, expenditure numbers per child from families having three-children were lower at every income bracket as compared to numbers from two-children & single-child households.
In addition, the study also found that expenditure per child was around 20-38% higher in a single-child household than in a two-child household. Moreover, three-children families spent about 8-15% lower per child than two-children households.
Does This Change By Region?
The study by Statistics Canada also observed regional variations in expenditures associated with children.
Parents in prairie provinces & western provinces had the highest expenditures, i.e., 8-15% higher than parents in Atlantic provinces of Canada. Moreover, parents in central provinces were in the middle, i.e., the child expenditures were around 6-9% higher than the ones in Atlantic provinces.
Do These Findings Change With The Number Of Parents?
Lastly, the study found some distinctions in the expenses of children between single-parent & two-parent households. At the low-income end, expenses were largely on par between single & two-parent households. However, this was less the case as the number of children increased in the family, i.e., single-child families spend the same amount per child irrespective of the number of parents.
Well, this number varies in three-child families where both the parents spent noticeably more per child. Interestingly, once families enter the middle-income bracket, single-parent households outspend two-parent houses per child by a prominent amount.
What Does All This Imply?
Taking the study’s findings into consideration, we can see that the child expenditure in Canada between 0-17 years of age & 18-22 years of age can vary significantly based on where the family resides & the number of parents & children in each house.
We can also further infer that these expenses increase substantially after a child turns 17. Moreover, the Atlantic provinces seem to be the best for childcare expenses because of the low cost of living.
However, Statistics Canada’s study shows some limitations that must be considered. First is the relatively small sample size, which may have skewed results as income data was taken as well as pooled from SHS.
Second was the fact that the survey only reported income at the level of the households & did not differ between the income of the parent or child. Well, this could seriously skew outcomes for children above 18 years of age & still live at home. Finally, there was the reference period of the study data, which had limited applicability. However, still, the study is unique & first of its kind.