₹25K/month for preschool? Tax consultant says raising kids on salary alone in India not possible

Preschool in Mumbai now costs more than a year of high school used to—and it's breaking the backs of salaried parents.

In a LinkedIn post, tax consultant Madhav Pangarkar breaks down the brutal math behind modern-day parenting costs and sends a blunt message: salaried income alone won’t cut it anymore.

“When I was in Class 10, my entire year school fee was ₹10K,” Pangarkar wrote. “Now in Mumbai, parents are being told to pay ₹1.85 lakh for preschool.”

He then does the math that has resonated with thousands online. ₹1.85 lakh per year works out to ₹15,000 a month in tuition alone. Add transport, books, uniforms, and miscellaneous costs, and it balloons to ₹25,000 per month.

That’s before school starts full-time.

For households where both parents earn between ₹40,000 and ₹50,000 a month—a typical range for many middle-class Indian families—the numbers barely leave room to breathe.

“They’re running tight,” Pangarkar notes. “Let’s be honest: If you want to raise a child in today’s India, SALARIED. INCOME. IS. NOT. ENOUGH.”

His post doesn’t just highlight the skyrocketing cost of education—it underscores the larger squeeze on India’s salaried middle class. Child-rearing in urban India now demands not just budgeting, but an entirely new financial strategy.

Pangarkar’s advice? Start building at least one additional income stream—whether through investments, freelancing, or business. Salaries are stagnant; costs are not.

The post struck a chord not just with parents, but also with younger professionals already worried about the future. It’s not just housing, EMIs, and inflation anymore. It’s kindergarten fees.