Friday 25 November 2005
£165,000 - the cost of bringing up a child - EducationGuardian.co.uk
News |
EducationGuardian.co.uk | News crumb | £165,000 - the cost of bringing up a child The average cost of raising a child from birth to the age of 21 has risen this year to a record-breaking £165,668, a survey reveals today. The biggest single items of expenditure for parents are childcare and education, with the university years the most expensive of all. The total cost, equivalent to £657 a month or £22 a day, has risen by 8% during the past year, more than three times the rate of inflation, according to the friendly society Liverpool Victoria. At £165,668, the average cost of raising a child is only slightly less than the average cost of a house, which according to the Halifax stands at £168,210, or a top-of-the-range Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (£170,500). From birth to 21, the average UK household will spend £15,630 on a child’s food, £12,055 on clothing, £9,369 on hobbies and toys, £5,170 on pocket money and £12,109 on holidays.