Cost of raising a child to age 11 does not have to cost £83,600

The cost of raising children research which comes from various companies throughout the year, always shows staggering results.

The latest offering of data comes from the Halifax Cost of Children research, which looked into how much it cost to raise one child to secondary school age.

Their results came to £85,000, an eye watering amount.

The biggest expense facing parents was found to be childcare, costing an average of £41,139 in total.

The findings came from 1,000 parents of 0-11 year olds by Marketing Sciences who carried out the research online in September this year.

The parents were asked about their monthly outgoings in specific areas including food, schooling, toys and clothing.

Results showed that the average parents was spending more than £600 a month on their child and £7,500 a year per child until the age of eleven years.

Of course, average outgoings in these areas depend upon where the researchers were sourcing their parents.

The average outgoings by parents depending on area vary massively according to area.

In Bristol, the average spend per parent would be very different depending on whether parents lived in Redland, Hartcliffe or Southville.

While it’s possible to spend an average of £77.41 per child per month on food alone, again depends whether the parent shops in Waitrose, Asda or a more expensive smaller branch of supermarket in areas of deprivation with absolutely no nearby competition.

Average monthly spends per under eleven years old also included £44.85 on schooling, £59.17 on holidays and £38.81 on clothes.

The problem with these surveys is that once the main message – £85,000 to raise a child to eleven years – comes out, it puts off adults who want to have children but are waiting until they feel entirely financially secure to have them.

In reality, raising a child to the age of eleven years does not have to cost anywhere near the amount of £85.000.