Juke is only three weeks old but he's joined a generation of children whose education costs could reach $1 million by the time they finish university.
While Juke's mother, Fran Poisson, is understandably focussed on the challenges of nappy changes, feeding and getting much-needed sleep, she was shocked by findings that parents who choose a "gold standard" in education for their children are looking at paying such an incredible bill.
“It’s too early to even think of whether going to a top private school is going to increase the chance of success for your child to achieve what they want in life," says the Yarraville first-time mother. "But you may be in a position where you have to start saving now to be able to meet some of those costs."
Analysis by Fairfax Media, which draws on data from hundreds of schools on the MySchool website, as well as estimates of tertiary costs in the federal budget, shows that with inflationary increases it could cost nearly $900,000 to provide childcare and education for a child born this year - if parents choose a top-priced preschool, the most elite private schools and a top university degree.
Even the cost of an education at "medium-priced" schools and centres could be more than $400,000, according to the analysis.
"Holy shit," says father-of-four Tim Cox, of Newport. He faces paying $500,000 if he wants to include even a bit of private education in the mix for his children.
University of Melbourne economist Joe Hirschberg said the arrival of the million-dollar era would probably lead many parents to reconsider sending their children to an elite secondary school, so they could put aside money for the costs of university.
Ms Poisson, for one, doesn't think she will pay the top price.
“If my partner and I have another child in the next few years, our family would not make the sacrifices necessary to potentially pay over a million dollars to send multiple children to top non-government schools," she says. "There are other costs that we would consider to help with their development such as travelling or learning an instrument or playing sport.”
The architect of HECS, Bruce Chapman, has acknowledged the possibility that a university degree currently costing $24,000 for a domestic student could increase to $120,000, or what an overseas student pays.
According to the modelling, the cost of that degree would have blown out to nearly $300,000 by the time a child born this year finished the degree and paid off the HECS debt.
Dr Chapman has said universities would move quickly to raise domestic fees to the level of international fees. In the modelling, we’ve allowed five years for universities to make this change. Dr Chapman could not be contacted for this story.
According to the analysis, $300,000 could be charged for six years of secondary school by the most expensive colleges if inflation continues apace.
Under the same conditions, elite primary schooling for six years would top $200,000.
The analysis suggests the prospect of a million-dollar education could be a reality, particularly as many costs associated with schooling have not been counted, such as uniforms, text books, housing, excursions and tutoring.
The Smith Family has estimated that it could cost more than $2000 to provide necessary items for a student in primary school, and many of those costs would be repeated every year.
The analysis did not take into account predicted wage rises over the period of schooling, or government assistance payments or subsidies.
