New figures from the Centre for Economics and Business Research for LV= Liverpool Victoria insurance have shown that the cost of raising a child in Britain from birth to the age of 21 has soared to nearly £230,000 for the first time.
The Daily Mail reports that the biggest cost to parents is educating a child, including school uniforms, books, educational trips and university tuition fees.
In London, higher salaries mean that parents spent one-quarter of their income of child rearing – whereas in northeast England, parents need one-third of their household income for fees for nurseries for children under the age of three.
Wales and Yorkshire are the next highest spenders on nursery schools for children.
If a child attends a state school followed by university, parents end up paying an average of £74,300 for their child’s education – double the figure for 2004.
Miles Rix of LV insurers said education costs are set to continue rising, however:
“Having children has never been more expensive – and with costs such as childcare and education continuing to rise, for many families across the UK this is set to remain a pressure point.”
The total cost of raising children from birth to the age of 21 – when most students graduate from their first degree – is £229, 251, representing a 63% increase in childcare costs in a decade.
The average parent spends an average of £42,000 on the cost of raising a child before they start primary school.
Just one child now costs parents one-third of their pre-tax salary on average, the researchers found.
The coalition government has introduced measures to help parents, including reinstating school meals for primary age school pupils – and raising the tax-free childcare allowance.
From autumn 2015, the government’s boost to the existing tax-free childcare scheme could mean around two million parents receiving up to £1,200 per child under the tax free childcare allowance.
However, university tuition fees have soared to £9,000 a year for UK students – and children are now a target group for marketing companies, with children now expected to have their own social lives and more expensive clothes, electronic gadgets, holidays and school trips than previous generations, all adding to the cost of bringing up a child.
Duncan Lewis Family Lawyers
Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of family and children lawyers and can advise on a wide range of family law, including.
• Care proceedings
• Child abuse
• Child contact and residence
• Children taken into Local Authority care
• Court of Protection
• Divorce
• International parent-child abduction
• Judicial separation
• Pre-nuptial agreements
• Wills & trusts.
Duncan Lewis is also a leading firm of Legal Aid lawyers and can advise on family law and childcare matters under UK law and Islamic law.
For expert legal advice on family law and childcare, call Duncan Lewis family lawyers on 020 7923 4020.