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... I suspect this figure is inflated by costing the time parents put in at some hourly rate, which simply isn't a proper representation of the true costs to parents, which are a lot lower.
Nope ... There are, of course, multiple reports and news items on the subject. The most consistently cited basis for costs is the periodic Department of Agriculture survey of child-rearing costs. This survey (last formally published in 2017 for children born in 2015) is based solely on projected expenses and doesn't include any cost-accounting for parents' time or labor.
As of the time of the 2017 report issuance the USDA's (nationwide) average total cost of having and raising a child up to age 18 was $233,610. According to an online inflation calculator this overall average translates to $273,285 in 2022 dollars.