Does It Cost More To Raise A Boy Or A Girl?

Anyone with kids, or friends with kids, is well aware that they are expensive. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a "Cost of Raising a Child" report stating that the average cost of raising a child born in 2013 up until age 18 for a middle-income family in the U.S. is approximately $245,340 (or $304,480, adjusted for projected inflation). That's not including college, FYI.

Ouch! But do baby boys or baby girls cost more? MoneyTips recently made an infographic that asks the spectacular question "which gender is more expensive to raise?” and breaks down costs per child for food, school supplies, extracurricular activities, clothes, and transportation — using data collected from a small (461) group of parents around the country.

Parents all thought it was more expensive to raise a girl; 60% of those surveyed leaned this direction, while about 30% thought it was equal, and only 8.8% thought boys were more expensive.

On average, most costs turned out be the about the same, like food, sports, and transportation.

But in two categories, parents spent more on their girls: clothing and toiletries, and school supplies. It's hard to be certain without knowing the ages of the children if this is due to parents spending more by choice or the higher cost of being a woman.