Birth of a child: what are the expenses during pregnancy and baby’s first year?

PicodiMay 26, 2020

According to the UN report from June 2019, the global fertility rate is 2.5 children per woman. Although the population growth rate has been declining since the 1990s, there are 140 million children born around the world every year.

It is no surprise that the arrival of a child increases family expenses significantly. Besides periodical expenditures on food, clothes, and nappies, the baby requires other, more expensive items, like a cot, changing table, and stroller, to name just a few.

Picodi.com analysis team has examined the expenses connected to the birth of a child: pregnancy clothes for mother, hospital kit, household equipment, and the cost of bringing up the child in the first year of life.

Dear children

The shopping list is divided into 7 thematic categories. The expanded kit consists of the basic products, as well as some extra non-essential ones.

How much money would you have to spend on pregnancy kit?

During the pregnancy, it is necessary for the future mum to expand her wardrobe with clothes of a bigger size. The average cost of basic maternity clothes comes to around ₱7000. The expanded kit ($10,400) includes some accessories which may be useful for a pregnant woman: a special sleeping pillow, fetal heartbeat detector, or smart scale.

The hospital bag, containing all the items necessary for the mum and the newborn baby during their stay in a hospital, costs around ₱2,200 (or ₱3,000 in premium version). Hospital bags can be prepared by the mum herself or bought as a pre-packed set.

It goes without saying that preparing a home for the arrival of a new family member can cost quite a lot. A cot with mattress and duvet, changing table, high chair, bather, bottles, pacifiers, baby care accessories — all that amounts to about ₱14,600. In the advanced version, with items like baby monitor, electronic bouncer, bottle warmer, and other accessories, home improvements would cost around ₱30,800.

Everything needed for the transport of the child may set back the parents a hefty sum, too. A middle-class, 2-in-1 stroller and a car seat cost around ₱8,000. High-end stroller, carrier, and baby wrap would raise the bill to ₱17,600.

Most of the expenses in the baby care products category are diapers. This invention from the 1950s makes life easier for parents, but not so much for their wallets. A yearly supply of cosmetics, cleaning products, and diapers can cost from ₱23,200 to ₱30,100, depending on family’s financial means.

World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first 6 months at least. It means that any supplementary food should be introduced no earlier than after the first half a year of life. The cost of food during this time makes around half of all the expenses (₱47,900). Obviously, high-end food would be more expensive (₱57,500).

When choosing baby clothes, parents often find it hard to resist the urge to buy another cute t-shirt or lovely shoes. The parents who give in to temptation can spend as much as ₱8,200. However, with a more sensible approach, baby clothes can cost up to ₱5,400 during the first year.

Who can afford a child?

In which country having a baby is the most affordable?

According to Numbeo, the average net wage in the Philippines is around ₱15,380. It means that the cost of the basic kit is equal to 7 month’s pay.

In comparison, in the United States and Australia, the researched items are worth only one of the average wage (considering local prices). Similar to the Philippines, Mexican parents would have to pay the equivalent of 6.3 salaries, and Brazilians around 5.5 of their salary.

Methodology

This research is based on retail prices in big online stores in the Philippines and other countries, as of May 2020. Data about average wages come from websites of state statistics offices or relevant Ministries. If there is no up to date relevant official data about wages, the amount comes from Numbeo. A list of all products from both standard and premium kits can be found here.

Public Use

Would you like to share information about expenses connected to the birth of a baby? Feel free to use all the data and infographics presented in this report for both commercial and non-commercial purposes as long as you indicate the author of the research (Picodi.com) with a link to this subpage. If you have any questions, please contact us: research@picodi.com.

About Picodi

Picodi is an international e-commerce platform which provides discount coupons for online stores. Founded in 2010 in Kraków, it currently operates in 44 countries and is listed in FT1000 ranking of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. In the Philippines since 2015.