How much do you believe it takes to raise a single child? The court believes 800 in this case. What makes you believe it should be less? And if so, what figure would you put it at?
I believe 800 is probably still low in some situations given a child will consume housing, utilities, food, school supplies, clothing, sports, medical, toys and entertainment.
$800/month for 18 years for one child? Not anywhere close to that.
Housing cost is the same whether there is a parent and a child, or a parent alone. Your rent or mortgage doesn't automatically go up because there's one extra person living in it. Housing should be under alimony if anything, not a child care expense.
Utilities maybe, but I doubt it would make as much of a dent compared to some others listed below.
Food? Again, not much of a dent compared to some others listed below.
School supplies? I'm not sure how much school supplies are needed in elementary school(crayons, markers, and such), but I did middle/high school in the US. Biggest expense I remember was my mom paying $120 for a TI-83+ calculator in 9th grade Geometry which lasted me past Calculus I in 11th grade, college and beyond. A graphing calculator isn't an absolute necessity given the teachers at my middle/high school always passed them out in class anyway. Loose leaf papers, spiral notebooks, binders, pens, pencils are all minor expenses that can be had at Wal-Mart and other stores on the cheap. One doesn't need to waste money on an $8 "Five-Star" subject notebook.
Clothes? Not that expensive looking over the long term. Spending $200-300 on clothes during "back to school" shopping to last the entire school year where many states offer sales tax holiday may look big if you're looking at the individual single transaction, but if you're looking at it over a year, $200-300 out of $9600+ in total child support payments is pickles. This is like the GOP voting to cut NPR funding when Defense, Medicare, and SS are the big elephant in the room that need to be addressed to balance the budget.
Sports??? I played Soccer for my high school. The only expense I ever had to do was spending $30 for soccer cleats at Finish Line and a ball. It lasted me for the entire 3 years I used it. Do basketball players have any additional expense besides buying their own ball and tennis shoes? Cross country? How much is running shoes? Badminton/Tennis? How much is a tennis ball and a racket? Cheerleading is not a sport.
Medical? I agree on this part. Medical insurance premiums increases about(50-100+%) to change from "employee" only to "employee and children" at all jobs, mine included.
$100+ cell phone plans with unlimited minutes, texts, and data? Not needed.
Cable TV? Another $100/month expense not needed. I grew up fine without it. Air is fine...We didn't get cable until I was 16 I believe. Besides, I wouldn't want my own kids to be watching BET, MTV, VH-1 and other crap kids their age watch.
Video games? Consoles are a one time expense which last years(~6 years). You don't need to get a child PS3, Xbox, Wii and every console on the market. One current gen console with a PC is fine. Can save by not buying "the latest and the greatest" $59.99 game often, buying used through bargain hunting, buying online instead of at retail outlets, etc...
The major expense in raising children by far is day care costs. Once that is no longer needed, everything else becomes relatively cheap.
I'd say if one's child cannot stay home at the age of 13 by him/herself after coming home from school, then one has failed as a parent.
*Note*
I'm using NC and MD.
I have no idea how much more it takes if you're living in LA, NYC, or some other super mega city where taxes are off the roof along with average houses selling for more than 10-20x average income like it is in CA and other cities/states with overinflated property markets leading one to pay $2,000/month to live in a "closet" apartment.