How much of a family's income is spent on children? The costs depend on many factors. Factors include the number and ages of children in the family, income and whether you are a one or a two-parent family.

The US Department of Agriculture's Cost of Raising Children publication provides guidelines. They're based on the Consumer Price Index. Seven budget areas are taken into consideration. These expenses listed from greatest to least are:

• Housing
• Food
• Transportation
• Health Care
• Child Care and Education
• Miscellaneous

The following monthly costs are national most current 2005 estimated expenses for urban areas. Transportation and health care costs may be more in rural area. Midwestern expenses are slightly lower.

NOTE: if there is only one child in family, multiply expenses by 1.24. For three or more children in a family multiply by 0.77 per child.

The income ranges are wide. The Expenditures on Children give the average monthly income for each of the groups. The average monthly income for the under $3600 group is $2242. The next range monthly average is $4783. The highest income average is $9058 per month.

NOTE: If there is only one child multiply expenses by 1.35. For three or more children, multiply by 0.72 per child.

The average monthly income for one-parent families is $1508 for the first group and $5458 for the second group. Like the two-parent family the income ranges are wide.

The above information can help families plan for future costs. It enables parents to plan for family emergencies and determine child support needs. It can also be used to purchase adequate life insurance. More specific information such as costs per age of children, urban vs rural and average income is available. The University of Minnesota has a publication Cost of Raising Children (BU-5899).