Parenting in Priceless Times: Why ₹45 Lakh Per Child Is Making Middle-Class Couples Pause

A viral LinkedIn post by Bengaluru startup founder Meenal Goel has set the nation talking: it now takes nearly ₹45 lakh to bring up one child in city India—a figure that's making many middle-class couples rethink family planning.

 

Key Highlights:

 

•⁠  ⁠Early Years Cost: The first five years themselves can cost you up to ₹8 lakh, comprising delivery, vaccinations, daycare, and baby requirements.

 

•⁠  ⁠Education & Beyond: Charges, fees, gadgets, and extracurricular activities between ages 6 and 17 total another ₹17 lakh. Private college studies with living costs total another ₹13 lakh, totaling ₹38–45 lakh per child.

 

•⁠  ⁠Urban-Rural Divide: Families based in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi actually spend more on costly private schools, health care, and child-care. Private or international schools may cost between ₹1–9 lakh per annum, while government schools are cheap but not favored by city-based professionals.

 

•⁠  ⁠Hidden Costs: Lifestyle habits, inflation, especially medical expenses and education, and ancillary services like home assistance or daycare add to costs. Working parents might spend an extra ₹20,000 a month on child care alone.

 

•⁠  ⁠Financial Fear: "We don't want a child, because we can't afford it," stated one couple to Goel, reflecting the attitudes of the majority of young Indians.

 

Future: With education inflation running at 10–12% per year and city living expenses skyrocketing, intelligent saving and planning are more essential than ever before for future parents. For most couples, having children is not a decision anymore—but a financial issue that must be weighed with a lot of care.

 

Sources: Business Today, India Today