PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The nursery, new clothes and the bills! Oh my! It’s no secret that babies are expensive. And New Jerseyans have to dig a little deeper than most. Insurance comparison company Quote Wizard ranked the Garden State as the fifth-most expensive state to have a baby.
“The numbers that we’re talking about are very high — $32,000 in New Jersey,” said Senior Insurance Analyst Nick VinZant. “But if you don't have health insurance, it could cost you two to three times that.”
That number, by the way, only reflects the first year of life.
VinZant also says their report shows that having a baby in Pennsylvania costs a bit less, as the commonwealth ranked 20th.
“Pennsylvania is about $5,000 cheaper — around $27,000 in total — and that's just because the costs of everything that we looked at are lower in Pennsylvania,” he said.
The company looked at the costs of health insurance, labor and delivery, and child care as criteria for ranking the states. Here is what they found:
Key findings for Pennsylvania:
—Labor and delivery: $11,946
—Child care: $10,808
—Health insurance: $4,688
Key findings for New Jersey:
—Labor and delivery: $14,856
—Child care: $11,922
—Health insurance: $5,472
Delaware ranked 22nd, with costs similar to those in Pennsylvania.
The state where it’s most expensive to have a baby, according to the report, is Alaska — at $37,000. The least-expensive state is Arkansas, at just over $20,000.
VinZant adds, regardless of where you live, not even a perfectly prepared birth plan can account for all of the unexpected tests and procedures that labor and delivery can present.
“That can be extra doctor visits, which can cost $200 a trip; extra tests, which can cost between $1,400 and $2,000; amniocentesis that can cost as much as $7,000,” he said.
And since child care makes up a huge part of the costs, he offers this advice: “One of the best things that you can do is set up a flexible dependent savings account. You can contribute as much as $5,000 in some states, pre-tax, and that can save you a lot of money towards child care.”