The Baby Balance Sheet – Can You Really Afford a New Baby and is it Really Worth It?

Babies are soft, cuddly and cute. They are also expensive, and a long term financial commitment, with no guaranteed return on your investment. If you are lucky, they may grow up into wonderful adults who leave home before 30 and look after you when you are old. The baby investment conundrum – are they really worth it?

People without children may wonder just how it is possible for babies and children to be such a money pit. They are only little and they do not eat that much, right? In the first couple of years, food may not be a big expenditure but the baby equipment alone would make your eyes water. Cradle, cot, sterilizer, high chair, pram, state of the art travel system, designer buggy, baby monitors, stair gates, cupboard locks, and that’s just for starters. Never mind the nappies, oh and not forgetting the clothes and shoes, which are used for such a little time. Do try to resist buying designer outfits for your kiddikins, as the cost per wear value is shocking.

However, usually when they are little the payback is pretty good. Once they learn to walk they are great little helpers at fetching and carrying (small items of course). They love their parents like they are gods, and what they take in subsistence is paid back many times with love and adoration.

It is when they get a little older that you start to get the grief. They treat you like a personal slave, their home like a hotel, and have a great line in backchat. You can usually expect this sort of behaviour by around age 3. You are secretly pleased they are so spirited and not a pushover. However by then it is too late and you have turned into your own parents.

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