21/11/2003

Children more expensive than the average house

The cost of raising a child from birth to age 21 has been put at £140,000 - almost £3,000 more than the cost of an average house in the UK.

Parents with three children to care for will spend almost half a million on providing for their upbringing. The figures are from a statistical survey carried out into the financial cost of children, in a home where the father is in full-time employment and the mother works part-time.

The survey revealed that the most expensive years are in the 'young adult' period between the age of 19-21, mainly due to costs associated with education. On average a child will cost almost £9,900 a year.

The Chief Executive of financial services company Liverpool Victoria, who commissioned the survey, said that few people would realise that bringing up three children would cost almost £500,000.

The Centre for Economic and Business Research carried out the statistical survey on government information and other data provided by companies and charity organizations.

The study showed that parents in the UK spend more on raising their children that any other country in Europe.

(SP)

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