The average yearly cost of having a child under the age of two is between $9,500 (for a child raised in a single parent household) and $14,500 (for a child raised in a two parent household), according to the Expenditures on Children by Families 2008 report. Annual costs for raising a child increase each year of the child’s life.

This cost depends on a lot of factors. Rent is typically the most expensive part of a household budget. So, you need to figure out where you’ll live and how much that will cost. Staying with your parent(s) or other relatives, either rent-free or with a low rent, may be an option you can consider.

Other major expenses are food, clothes, health care, day care, transportation and any future training you might need for a job (technical school, GED classes, college, etc.). Check out Web sites that offer “baby calculators” to get a personalized look at how much you would probably spend.

Another way to understand these costs is to do some basic research in your area. When you have collected the prices below, use them to create a realistic budget.

• Spend some time in the grocery store checking out prices, including baby food. How much would three meals a day cost? For a month?
• Look in the newspaper at the cost of one- or two-bedroom apartments and utilities.
• Price at least one full outfit for a child.
• Try to estimate child care costs. Who will watch your child while you’re in school or working? Do you have a relative who can help for free or at a low cost? Or call a local day care facility and ask for yearly or monthly prices.
• Try to estimate the cost of transportation. If you have a car, how much are your payments, insurance, gas, maintenance and repairs? If you use public transportation, what impact will having a baby have on the number of times you travel? How much will this cost each month?
• Get a sense of how much health care will cost for you. Do you have health insurance? How much is a visit to the doctor or clinic?
• Try to estimate costs for health care for a child. How much is it to add a child to your insurance policy? If you don’t have insurance, look into getting a policy just for your child. How much is one visit to the doctor or clinic? What about a trip to the emergency room?

If you can’t earn enough money to pay the bills, there are programs that can help, at least a little. You may be eligible for public assistance, which could potentially help some with income, health insurance or food. You can also get help with food through the government WIC program. Most states now help single mothers pay for child care while they attend school or work. If you need to, you should look at using these programs while you establish yourself. The long-term goal is to take care of yourself and your child. These programs can help get you there.

Both mother and father should be providing emotional and financial support to their child. Under the law, all legal fathers must pay child support. However, if you are not married to your baby’s father, he may not be considered the legal father; the process for establishing paternity—that he is the legal father—varies from state to state.

In order to establish him as the legal father, there needs to be some kind of proof. He might agree to sign a legal paper that says he’s the father (sometimes called “voluntary acknowledgement”), but if he does not agree to do that, he may need to take what’s called a paternity test. One kind of paternity test is a blood test, where a blood sample is taken to test whether or not he is the father. Once a paternity test has shown that he is the biological father, each of you would sign legal documents to declare this.

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