The ongoing baby bust is being felt in at least one grocery store aisle. Average household spending on baby food fell 64 percent between 2007 (the year births peaked in the U.S.) and 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey.
Average household spending on baby food (in 2017 dollars)
2017: $18.16
2010: $40.19
2007: $50.05
Beyond the decline in births, the other factor dragging down spending on baby food is the greater propensity of parents to make their own rather than relying on the store bought variety. That helps to explain why spending on baby food fell more than twice as much as spending on infants' clothes during the past decade. Between 2007 and 2017, average household spending on clothes for children under age 2 fell from $110 to $77, after adjusting for inflation—a 30 percent decline.
Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Consumer Expenditure Survey
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