Not exactly sweet sixteen for parents
(17 February 2006)

If you have a 16 year-old to clothe and feed it will be the most expensive time of your child-rearing life, according to research carried out by Maestro and Family Circle magazine.

Parents shell out £64 per week when their offspring have reached the age of 16, which works out at £3,328 each year – and this is £2 per week less than is spent on their nearest rivals in the costliness charts, 11 and 15 year-olds.

The most financially manageable kids are – perhaps surprisingly – those aged below one year – requiring an outlay of a relatively paltry £40.50 every seven days.

Up to the age of 18, a single child costs parents £43,056 in clothes, food, entertainment, tuition costs and other necessities.

Nigel Turner, marketing director at Maestro UK, said: "The total is almost twice the national average household take home pay, meaning workers in the average family will spend two years working to cover the cost of each child."

That's quite a slog – and it may be that, at this midway point in the month, you're short on cash while your child urgently requires some new clothes, sports equipment or similar.

If so, a payday loan will help provide this in the short term, allowing you to borrow money until your next pay cheque comes through and ensuring that you can keep the ship steady when it comes to managing the complexities of your children's affairs.


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