Split the money into 3 stretches: ages 0 to 3, compulsory education, and after compulsory education

Money from ages 0 to 3 is mostly about how the child is cared for: you, grandparents, or someone you hire. From primary school through junior high, it is mostly housing and spending outside school. After that, it is mostly the path through the next level of school. The 3 stretches are spent in completely different ways. Adding them together only produces a frightening total.

Cost

There is no fixed sum. It varies widely by city and by how the child is cared for. The hard part is sitting down and calculating the 3 stretches separately, instead of naming a figure by feel.

Benefit

The large part from ages 0 to 3 is how the child is cared for: you, grandparents, or someone you hire. During compulsory education (primary school through junior high), the large part is housing and spending outside school. After that, the large part is the path through the next level of school. These 3 stretches of money are spent in completely different places. Added together, they only produce a frightening total.

Notes

First count the money you can definitely receive: the childcare subsidy, the maternity allowance, and yibao (医保 — basic medical insurance) reimbursement. Then see how much is still short. Do not decide from the online claim that raising a child costs so-and-so many tens of thousands of yuan. That kind of figure has no clear scope. You do not know what it counted and what it left out.

Sources · 1

1. 作者经验，无直接文献