Bringing Up Baby in Beijing Costs More Than US, Europe

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Last month, The Global Times reported that “the average cost of raising a child until the age of 18 was RMB 485,000 yuan (US 76,556) in China in 2019, which was 6.9 times China's GDP per capita, much higher than many countries including the US, France, Germany, and Japan.” The number was calculated based on household income and consumption expenditures released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Well, that's what two years of kindergarten costs at my kid's international school.

While few of us have raised a child from birth to adulthood here in Beijing, a quick survey of the cost of living over the last few years can tell you a lot. Websites such as Expatden report that “In 2010, foreigners could easily find an apartment between RMB 2,000-4,000 near the city center, and nowadays it’s hard to find a one-bedroom for less than RMB 5,000. A subway ride (no matter the distance) was also a mere 2 kuai (the colloquial term for the RMB) up until 2015.” I took the subway the other day from my home near the 4th Ring Road to the office downtown – it cost RMB 4. That’s twice the price.

We asked some expat parents currently living here what they felt was the biggest culprit for their spending and the response was unanimous – education. As expats without a Beijing 户口 hùkǒu – or standard household registration – public schools are off the list for our children, leaving us to choose from international schools which carry a heftier price tag. How much heftier you ask? Well, based on the latest information we collected for our annual School Choice Guide, you could be driving a BMW X1 right now instead of paying for your child's K12 international school education.

It isn’t just education though. “Costs are much higher in Beijing compared to what we were paying in the US and Germany for housing [and] medicine,” shares Darla Ridlon, expat mother of two.

Fellow expat mom Serina Baik-Lueders adds that “along with international health care, other expat extra learning activities outside of the school are pricier.”

Expat parent and professional photographer Dave Hanssen echoes the sentiment that “hobbies such as youth sports and art classes” take up a large chunk of our Beijing budgets.

One category of spending finds some disparity in agreement – food. For some expats we spoke to, grocery prices, as well as dining costs, added significantly to the financial burden of living in Beijing. But for others, food costs remain low in comparison to their home countries. We can definitely chalk this up to personal dining preferences because we know that a jianbing will run around RMB 8 or RMB 10, but a 280-gram Australian-imported steak at Blue Frog will set you back some RMB 250. Simply put, your food budget can vary a lot depending on how often you eat out, or cook, and where you shop for your groceries.

What’s the upside to living in Beijing then? Well, as Ridlon shares, “employers do cover many of our living expenses to help balance the cost differences of expat living.” That’s what drives most of us to become expats in the first place, plus of course the cultural exposure and adventure. Specific to Beijing, the incredible convenience and availability of waimai and DiDis, both of which thankfully remain cheaper than overseas, help too. Let’s just hope it stays that way.

Expat life can be expensive. Want to know how your family budget stacks up against the rest of the expat community? Scan the QR code below to take jingkids "Which Expat Family Budget Are You?" and see how you fit in!

Images: Unsplash, Pexels

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