Parents shell out nearly £600 a month on small children

Compelled to spend to keep up with other parents.

Parents in the UK shell out an incredible £35,000 on their children by the time they reach the age of five, according to new research from Aviva.

The study of 2,000 parents with children aged five and under found that we typically spent £7,026 a year on our little darlings, which works out at a whopping £586 a month.

Here's where that money is going:

	Average monthly costs	Average annual costs
Toys and games	£53.30	£639.60
Clothes	£58	£696
Essential baby/child equipment	£62.30	£747.60
Leisure/family trips out	£56.20	£674.40
Entertainment (DVDs, books, etc)	£37.30	£447.60
Classes for children	£38.80	£465.60
Special foods/formula	£41.90	£502.80
Childcare/babysitting	£95	£1,140
Nappies	£47.70	£572.40
Extra holiday costs	£55.90	£670.80
Equipment for school (uniforms, etc)	£39.10	£469.20
Total	£585.50	£7026

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Keeping up with the Joneses

A lot of this spending is driven by a ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ mentality, with one in five parents admitting they felt forced to spend in order to keep up with other parents. Of the parents surveyed, 36% said they know people who boast about how much they spend on their children.

Regional differences

Perhaps unsurprisingly it is parents in London who are spending the most on their children, with annual costs of £10,731.60. The next most extravagant parents are those in the West Midlands who splash out £8,202 a year on their under fives. At the bottom of the spending chart is Wales with annual costs of £4,900.

Region	Monthly costs	Annual costs
London	£894.30	£10,731.60
West Midlands	£683.50	£8,202
North East	£645.30	£7,743.60
East Midlands	£609.80	£7,317.60
Yorkshire	£584.70	£7,016.60
Scotland	£543.30	£6,519.60
South East	£509.50	£6,114
East	£494.70	£5,936.40
Northern Ireland	£491.10	£5,893.20
South West	£461.70	£5,540.40
North West	£431.90	£5,182.80
Wales	£408.40	£4,900.80

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Cutting costs

Of course, being a parent doesn't have to cost quite that much. There are plenty of things you can do to reduce your spending. First, check out our guide on How to cut the cost of childcare.

If you want to keep the kids entertained without breaking the bank, keep up to date with our regular money saving pieces on cheap and free activities at half term and during the summer holidays. We can also help you to find free and cheap cinema tickets.

If you want to save some cash on your holidays, then it's also well worth reading The cheapest holiday destinations.

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