LV= Reports Kids Come First As Parents Increase 'Back To School' Spending To £709 Million
Released on: September 01, 2010, 10:09 am
Author:
LV=
Industry:
Retail
LV='s new Cost of a Child study has found that parents will
spend £709 million* on 'back to school' basics including uniforms,
stationery, sportswear and winter coats as parents prepare to kit their
children out for the start of the new school year. This is equivalent
to parents spending an average of £122 on their children. This rises to£139 for secondary school aged children, compared to £96 for infants.
Parents living in London spend the most preparing for their kids to go
back to school at £158 on average.
Despite many families continuing to feel the squeeze in the current economic
climate, 46% of parents expect to spend a greater amount this year on 'back to
school' items than last year. When asked to consider the financial pressures of
kitting their kids out for school, 48% said they are feeling the strain of having to
spend 'excessive amounts', rising to 64% among parents in the North East.
54% parents are considering using low cost suppliers for back to school items, such
as supermarkets to buy basics like uniform and stationery, and 23% are considering
second hand items, including hand-me-downs and goods from charity shops or eBay.
This rises to 70% and 41% respectively for families in the South East.
Mark Jones, LV= head of protection, said: "It is surprising that many parents are
responding to increased money pressure this year by spending more on back to school
basics; clearly kids come first despite the downturn. And it's even more surprising
that many parents are spending more despite looking at ways to be frugal and
economise, by purchasing from cheaper suppliers such as their local supermarket or
eBay."
The annual LV= Cost of a Child study shows that parents are
now likely to have to shell out more than £201,000 on raising a child from birth to
the age of 21**. This equates to £9,610 a year, £800 a month or £26 a day. Education
(not including private school fees) remains the second biggest expenditure behind
childcare, costing parents £52,881 over a child's lifetime - an increase of 4% on
last year.
Mark Jones continued: "£122 is a lot of money for parents to spend kitting kids out
to go back to school, and that's just one small part of the expense of raising a
family. So it is important that parents try to look beyond the short term and ensure
they have suitable budgets and long term financial plans in place. Whilst it may
seem that cancelling insurance policies or protection plans is a good way of
stretching the family budget, it's really important to keep the bigger picture in
mind.
- Ends -
Notes to editors
* Research carried out online from 6-10 of August 2010 by Opinium Research on behalf
of LV=. Sample size 2,013 adults, with 404 of those respondents with children aged
between 5 and 16.
Please contact LV= for further details.
** Calculations by the Centre for Economics and Business Research for LV=, January 2010
**** Research carried out online from 26 January - 1 February 2010 by Opinium
research on behalf of LV=. Total sample size was 3,953 adults over the age of 18
years.
About LV=
LV= is a registered trademark of Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited (LVFS)
and a trading style of the Liverpool Victoria group of companies.
LV= offer a range of insurance products including house insurance, motor insurance, life insurance, pet insurance and
over 50 life insurance.
LV= employs around 4,000 people, serves over 3.8m customers and members, and manages
around £9.5bn on their behalf. We are also the UK's largest friendly society and a
leading mutual financial services provider.
LVFS is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, register
number 110035. LVFS is a member of the ABI, the AFM and ILAG. Registered address:
County Gates, Bournemouth BH1 2NF.
For further information please call:
Linda Winder
LV=
69 Park Lane
Croydon
CR9 1BG
020 7634 4418
www.lv.com
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