The average cost of raising a child from birth to the age of 21 has now reached a record high of £222,458, according to new figures from insurer LV.
The cost, revealed in the insurer’s annual Cost Of A Child report, is over £4,000 higher than last year’s figure and a hefty £82,000 up on the cost of raising a child ten years ago.
Mark Jones, Head of Protection at LV, said:
“Since we first published our report ten years ago, the cost of raising a child has increased by 58%, from £140,000 in 2003, to over £222,000 today. With the Government cutting back on the benefits and local services provided, and the advent of higher university tuition fees, the costs associated with raising a family are set to remain a pressure point for families across the UK.”
He added:
“There seems to be no sign of this trend reversing. If the costs associated with bringing up children continue to rise at the same pace, parents could face a bill of over £350,000 in ten years’ time.”
There have been across-the-board rises in the cost of living over the last decade, the insurer says, with the largest increase seen in education, where costs have more than doubled in the last decade, from £32,593 per childhood to £72,832.
Childcare costs have also shot up, from £39,613 per child in 2003 to £63,738 today. Clothing, by contrast, is now five per cent cheaper than it was a decade ago.
