Cost of raising child tops £200,000

Tuesday, February 23rd 2010

Britons who have just become parents for the first time may be shocked to know that the cost of raising their child is likely to be more than £200,000.

Research from LV= concluded that this sum may be needed for raising a child from birth to his or her 21st birthday.

This is approximately £26 each day and has increased by 43 per cent over seven years.

Group chief executive Mike Rogers says: "Every parent will know how expensive it can be to raise a little one and as parents we know we don't begrudge a single penny of it."

However, this large sum will still come as a shock to many mothers and fathers, he added.

The £200,000 consists mainly of childcare and education, which both total more than £50,000 each.

While this figure remains high, 77 per cent of parents said the economic situation has led to household cut-backs such as foregoing holidays.

It seems the cost may not even end as the child reaches 21, since parenting expert Catherine Hanly last week claimed that parents were funding the 'boomerang generation' of offspring who moved back home after university.