Mumbai Man Claims It Costs Rs 13 Lakh A Year To Raise Child, Viral Post Sparks Buzz On Urban Parenting Expenses

Mumbai Man LinkedIn Viral Post: Raising kids in big cities isn’t easy, and a recent viral post by Mumbai-based Ankur Jhaveri is showing just how expensive it can get. After chatting with his cousin, who works at an international school, Ankur decided to calculate the actual cost of raising a child in urban India. What he discovered surprised him and the internet, too. He shared a detailed breakdown on LinkedIn, where he wrote, “I never realised the real cost of raising kids in India, until I met my cousin last week, who is a teacher at an international school.” According to Ankur, just the tuition at such schools can cost between Rs 7–9 lakh per year. And that’s only the beginning.

When you add the price of books, uniforms, private tuitions, and daily school needs, the total goes up by another Rs 2–4 lakh. That’s still not counting after-school activities, clothes, and birthday celebrations, which could raise the overall annual cost to around Rs 13 lakh per child. Ankur then did the math to figure out what kind of income a parent would need to comfortably afford this. He said, “If you’re spending about 30% of your income on your child, then your net salary should be around Rs 43–44 lakh.” And if you add income tax into the equation, the gross salary needed comes to about Rs 55–60 lakh per year, just to raise one child with these standards.

ALSO READ: Sugarcane Vendor’s Genius Fan Hack Steals The Show; Viral Video Sends Internet Into Frenzy

He added, “And this is if you have one kid. Have another one, and these numbers increase substantially. I always used to wonder why people these days don’t want to have kids. Now I know why.” While Ankur admitted his calculations might not be perfect, he invited parents to share their own experiences: “Those of you who actually have kids, please tell me what else I’m missing (I’m sure there’s something).”

Watch The Viral Post:

His post struck a chord with many. Some parents said his numbers were quite realistic, especially for families choosing international schooling. Others felt that such high costs apply only to those going for premium lifestyles in metros like Mumbai.

One user wrote, "I am shortlisting schools......and you get decent ones within lakh to 1.5/yr all inclusive. Now I am not saying this is less, but then your calculation is factoring fees of Dhirubhai Ambani school, which shouldn't be the case." "I would tag these schools as 'branded' schools. My school fees were less than Rs 15k a year, I believe it has not touched the lakh figure yet. So choosing a good school, a brand one, is more important," added a second user.

ALSO READ: Indian Family Ships Royal Enfield Bullet From Punjab To UK For Rs 4.5 Lakh, Internet Can’t Keep Calm

"Not all good schools are 7-9 lakhs/year. That's a lot of the international schools. There are enough and more good ICSE, CBSE, IGCSE schools which are 1-2 lakhs a year," added a third user. "Every school is good if a kid wants to study. This is all hogwash. People just want to send kids to big names to show upmanship while boozing with pseudo friends and colleagues," added another user.