What are the financial implications of becoming a parent?

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While becoming a parent might be one of your top life goals, you may also want to consider the costs associated with doing so. Although you might hope this won’t get in the way of achieving your dreams of becoming a Mum or Dad, it can be useful to see whether you are currently in a good position to be able to afford to raise a child. Looking at your finances now, and in the future, as well as the financial implications of parenthood, could allow you to see how feasible it might be.

With the growing costs associated with living a fulfilling life, you may wonder how your child will manage to achieve those same things in a couple of decades. You may want to think about the useful aspects of saving for your children, especially if the money is given a longer time to continue growing. In doing so, you might not be able to completely cover their financial needs, but you can give them a bit of a boost towards their own savings.

This money could make a big difference between your child being able to afford to purchase a house, as an example, and getting stuck in a rent trap for years. Even saving just a couple of pounds each week could help them to have a nice little pot available once they reach adulthood.

More people living in the house might also equate to higher energy bills. If you are only just able to make payments at the moment, you may really struggle when a child is brought into the mix. Currently, some families are already on, or below, the poverty line, meaning that the rise in costs is hitting these families quite hard. Therefore, you might want to create a forecast of what the bills might be should you have a child, and see how this fits into your existing budget. It may also be useful to try and find ways to reduce some of your outgoings, and increase your income, to compensate for this.

There may also be a number of costs that you need to account for within the first few months of your baby’s life. Items such as furniture, clothing, and nappies could set you back by quite a lot. You may want to make sure that you already have around £500, if not more, in savings to purchase these essentials in the months leading up to childbirth. This figure may rise depending on whether you have twins, as well as if you decide to buy more upmarket items. Purchasing second-hand furnishings, and even taking hand-me-downs from family, could be a good way of helping to circumvent some of these expenses.

Becoming a parent may be quite an expensive feat. However, by thinking about the financial implications before deciding to have a child, you may be able to put plans into place that allow you to manage these costs more effectively.

Photo credit Baby Natur via Unsplash