Meal Cost per Child
Split a grocery bill between adults and children fairly.
About Meal Cost per Child
Children generally eat a fraction of an adult portion, so the bill is split into adult-equivalent units rather than evenly by head. Dividing a child's weekly share across twenty-one meals gives the cost per meal. Knowing per-person and per-meal costs turns a vague grocery bill into a per-child number that reveals how much eating out or school meals can add.
Formula
Meal Cost per Child
Cost per adult = groceries / (adults + children x child share); per child = adult cost x child share
- child share
- How much of an adult portion a child eats
Worked example
With the default values below, Meal Cost per Child returns Per Adult per Week of $57.14. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Weekly grocery cost
- 200
- Number of adultsminimum 1
- 2
- Number of childrenminimum 1
- 2
- Child share of an adultaccepts 0.1–1
- 0.75
Results
- Per Adult per Week
- $57.14
- Per Child per Week
- $42.86
- Per Child per Meal
- $2.04
- Children's Weekly Share
- $85.71
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Meal Cost per Child
- 3Per Adult per Week= 57.14
- 4Per Child per Week= 42.86
- 5Per Child per Meal= 2.04
- 6Children's Weekly Share= 85.71
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Meal Cost per Child calculated?
Cost per adult = groceries / (adults + children x child share); per child = adult cost x child share Children generally eat a fraction of an adult portion, so the bill is split into adult-equivalent units rather than evenly by head. Dividing a child's weekly share across twenty-one meals gives the cost per meal.
Why does Meal Cost per Child matter?
Knowing per-person and per-meal costs turns a vague grocery bill into a per-child number that reveals how much eating out or school meals can add.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 4 inputs: Weekly grocery cost, Number of adults, Number of children, Child share of an adult. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.