Cost of raising children more than doubled in the last 20 years

Became a father in '96 and mother in 2001.<br><br>Between us, we've got 4 kids, including one set of Irish Twins (born in '96 and '97).<br><br>I was reading a story about the decline in birthrates, and saw a comment from someone who attached an image from a Chambers post. I can't find it now, but the gist of it is, it was a table listing the cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 in the US, broken down by decade. <br>The information was attributed to a US DoA website, but I was unable to locate it on their site or with Google. <br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>| **DECADE** | **Cost of raising a child** |<br>| :- | :- |<br>| 1960 | $25k |<br>| 1970 | $36k |<br>| 1980 | $64k |<br>| 1990 | $105k |<br>| 2000 | $165k |<br>| 2010 | $230k |<br>| 2020 | $310k |<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>While this is interesting in its own right, I wondered what inflation did to the values.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>| **DECADE** | **Adjusted for inflation** |<br>| :- | :- |<br>| 1960 | $220k |<br>| 1970 | $245k |<br>| 1980 | $200k |<br>| 1990 | $230k |<br>| 2000 | $270k |<br>| 2010 | $310k |<br>| 2020 | $310k |<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>So now I'm wondering why the cost, adjusted for inflation, decreased so much from 1980 to 2000, and why it dropped in the last decade.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Anyways, the whole point of my post was to show the numbers.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>Edit: Typo