Thursday, November 21, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Hawaii Most Expensive State to Raise a Family
By Selected News Articles @ 3:46 PM :: 6204 Views :: Family, Hawaii Statistics, Cost of Living

10 Most Expensive States to Raise a Family

by Elyssa Kirkham, GoBankingRates.com, November 9, 2015

Raising a family isn't cheap. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the average cost of raising a child is $245,340. But that number is just an average. For many Americans, raising a family will actually cost much more, especially if they live in a state where the cost of living and other expenses are high.

In these states, family budgets are quickly eaten up by high costs of housing, food and child care, and many don't have high wages to help families offset high costs. Notably, many of these states also lack adequate family leave policies — or have no parental leave laws at all — which can quickly turn a new family addition, job loss or family member's health scare into a financial emergency.

GOBankingRates looked at the major financial factors that affect families, including paid family leave, median state incomes, and housing and food costs, ranking all 50 states on their affordability for families. Click through to see the top 10 states where raising a family costs the most money.

Hawaii #1

Raising a family in the Aloha State comes at a high price. Hawaii takes the No.1 spot as the most expensive state for families due to its notoriously high costs of living. Hawaii has the highest costs of any state for both food and housing. Food costs a whopping 58.2 percent more in this state than the national average, and the median listing price in Hawaii is $539,000. The state also has the sixth-highest child care costs in the nation.

While these high prices are offset somewhat by a higher median income of $60,814 in the state, Hawaii families will still find it harder to balance their budgets than most other Americans. The state has a parental leave policy, but its four weeks of unpaid leave does little to help families who are welcoming a baby or caring for an ailing family member.

read ... 10 Most Expensive States to Raise a Family

Related: 10 Cheapest States to Raise a Family

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii