Cost of Bringing up a Child - a frightening report

[callisto11]

According to the report http://www.uknetguide.co.uk/Finance/...Child.htmlging


Cost of Bringing up a child


It costs more to bring up a child in Britain than it does to buy a house. From birth to university, parents spend about £164,000 feeding, clothing and educating a child; compared with the £146,000 cost of a home in Britain.

Despite the fact that it costs more to raise children in the UK than it does in Spain or France, British parents are the most likely to splash out on toys and holidays.

<UKNE_MPU />A family of four children, all kitted out in new clothes and uniforms, demanding their own hi-tech gadgets, designer gear and a university education, will have set their parents back a staggering £656,000 over 21 years.

And if parents include private education (based on the rates of the lowest-price schools) the bill rises to an incredible £317,857 each!

Nearly eight in 10 of 3,000 British mothers questioned said they were "aware" of the cost implications of their new arrival but nearly a quarter admitted they were not fully prepared for the financial burden.

In many families both parents have to work to meet the growing list of needs their children have – and one in three parents said they sent their child to summer school at least three times a week.
Once children enter their teens, they increasingly hanker after designer goods and items to keep up with friends at school.

Four in 10 parents found 16 to 19-year-olds to be the most demanding and costly, as the pressure of being "cool" comes at a price.

Although many teenagers get a part-time job, the study reveals that the money they earn is unlikely to make a significant difference.


The breakdown


Age: 1-4 Total: £20,520

Age 5-11 Total £70,368

Age 11-18 Total £43,201

Age 19-21 Total £30,000

But while the figures seem extreme, in fact the picture has not radically changed over the years. According to estimates from the newspapers a century ago, the cost of bringing up a boy child “from infancy to an age of economic independence" was £2,708.

The cost was based on an examination of a specific child who became a doctor. Up to the age of ten, he was brought up and educated at home. That meant the parents living in a larger house and employing a nurse, and, later, a governess, at £100 a year.

Surprisingly, taking inflation into account over the period, the sums work out very much the same.

Unfortunately, the modern parent has now to think of university fees and paying for their child’s ‘gap year’ which for those who travel means an average of £9,000 just for the year between school and university. For a child born today that would mean parents putting aside £45 a month to pay for 18 years to fund the gap year.

If you intend to fund your child’s education – and even those who don’t pay for private schools may end up funding their child’s university years – then the earlier you start saving, the better.

Private boarding schools can cost £15,000 a year, while private day schools may charge up to £7,500 a year to educate a child aged between 13 and 18.

By the time the extras (uniforms and, travel) are added, the bill will be over £40,000, and there is every chance that this will go up far faster than the increase in the rate of inflation. University education averages around £6,000 a year even now and that too is likely to rise.

The least painful way to pay is to set aside money now, on a regular monthly basis at a minimum of £100 a month if you want to send your newborn to a private school by the time he or she is 11 years old.

If your child is older, then you will have to save more, unless you have a lump sum you can start off with.

If you need to invest a lump sum and do not have it to hand, you can take a loan from a bank, but this is expensive, and you may spend more on the interest you have to pay back than you are gaining from the savings.

If you speak with independent financial advisers it is likely that you will be advised to put your money into a unit trust or an investment trust so that you get tax benefits.

The best returns come from the stock market – but so do the biggest risks, so choose an investment that is secure.