Daughters more expensive than sons

Raising a daughter costs more than raising a son, a new survey suggests.

Parents typically spend £5,767 on girls per year and only £5,475 on boys before they turn five. The gap between boys and girls increases significantly between the ages of 14 and 18. During those years, parents spend an average of £7,747 on daughters compared to only £7,172 on sons.

Over 2,000 parents from across the UK took part in the survey. Many parents believed one of the main reasons for the cost gap between genders was that clothing for girls tended to be more expensive than boys’ clothes.

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They were also asked how long they expected to financially support their children. On average, mothers thought they would stop when the child reached 30, whereas fathers expected the cut-off age to be just 27.

Although they spent a lot of money to raise their first child, 75 per cent of parents surveyed said costs fell with subsequent children. They said that they were able to save money by reusing clothes, toys, bikes and prams.

The survey was conducted on behalf of Sainsbury’s Bank. Simon Ranson, the organisation’s head of banking, said it should come as “no surprise that the first child comes with the largest price tag”. A second or third child tend not to have too much of an impact on costs such as accommodation, utilities and food, he explained.

A study published in February suggested that it costs an average of over £230,000 to raise a child until the age of 21 in the UK. This number varies from region to region, with London as the most expensive and Yorkshire and the Humber as the cheapest.