PEOPLE PATTERNS
The More Parents Make,</br></br>The More Spent on Baby</br></br>THE TYPICAL BABY born to affluent parents in 1993 could cost as much as $334,600 to raise to the age of 18. And that doesn't include prenatal care, delivery costs or college.</br></br>That staggering sum is what may be spent by an average married couple with a pretax income of $54,100 or more, according to estimates by Mark Lino, an economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's family economics research group. Couples with incomes of $32,000 to $54,100 may spend $231,100; those who make less could spend $170,900. The estimates assume an annual inflation rate of 6% and include both working and nonworking parents with a range of living expenses.</br></br>Single children are more expensive. For middle-income couples, the estimated expense of rearing an only child under the age of three was $8,700 last year. For those who had one child under three years old and a 16 year old, the estimated cost for the younger child was $6,900. For those with one young child and two others aged 13 and 16, a 22% economy of scale per child comes into play, making the youngest a comparative bargain at $5,400.