Brits struggling with raising children cost
A new study shows that the cost of raising a child to the age of 21 has jumped to £230,000, or more than the price of an average semi-detached house in Britain.
According to the study conducted by the Center for Economics and Business Research, parents will spend more than £70,000 for childcare and babysitting alone, and spend another £74,000 on education-related expenses such as uniforms, school lunches, text books and school trips.
In total, the typical parent can expect to spend £231,843 raising a child born in 2016, an increase of 65% since 2003.
The study added that the cost of childcare rose by 4.3% last year, even though general inflation stands at just 0.2%, with average wage rises limping along at around 2%. Since 2003, childcare costs have jumped by 78%, far outstripping inflation of 45% since then.
“The cost of raising a child has increased by more than £2,500 in the last year, and more than £13,000 over the last five years. In London, the cost of raising a child is now more than a quarter of a million pounds – £253,638,” said the research.
The Guardian says it means the average UK parent will have to spend more than a third (38%) of their take-home pay just to be able to afford one child, with the costs highest between the ages of one and four years old.
Six out of 10 parents said they are struggling to cope, and that getting wider family to help out – such as grandparents assisting with childcare – is becoming more difficult.
Now the families are cutting back on spending on hobbies, toys, leisure and recreation, although with the half-term break upon us, spending on holidays outside the home appears sacrosanct.
Observers cite the trend as the main reason why parents are having fewer children and why many mothers put off having a child until their 30s.
This comes as until recently Britain was in the grip of a baby boom.
Between 2001 and 2012, the number of births climbed rapidly, jumping from 594,634 to 729,674, although the number dropped slightly to 695,233 in 2014. This brings UK birthrates back to levels common in the early 1970s, although far short of the all-time peak of 875,972 in 1964. Just over a quarter (27%) of births in 2014 were to mothers born outside the UK.
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