• Bell@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    In what world is $2700/month “the absolute bare minimum” for a child? What amount seems reasonable to support a small child?

    Or, more to the point, why is everyone pretending that’s not an outrageous amount?

    • GutterPunch@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The same world that produced the USDA Expenditures on Children by Families Consumer Expenditure Survey results, in which that amount is similar to other numbers. The US government may or may not have artificially inflated these numbers for intrinsic benefits. Depending on how you slice the numbers or what variables in that child’s life are at play, a child can easily cost more than $2700 a month, but millions of families also raise multiple children simultaneously on less money than that. In the same world where rent prices on 1-2 bedroom places can start upwards from $1500/month, what values do make sense? The answer to that depends on whether we’re talking about Musk or actual people.