Cost of children highlighted
Research shows the costs of meeting the minimum basic needs of a child
As parents face back-to-school costs, new research published by the Child Poverty Action Group, and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, details the costs of meeting the minimum basic needs of a child in 2012.
Key findings from the research reveal that it costs £143,000 to bring up a child to the age of eighteen and meet their minimum needs.
Other important findings are that childcare can add as much as £60,000 to the total cost of childhood, that state support fails to ensure basic physical needs are met, that a full-time job on the National Minimum Wage is not enough to meet minimum costs for children and that child benefit meets only twenty per cent of the childhood costs, on average, for two-parent families and just eighteen per cent for single parent families.
Alison Garnham, chief executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said: ‘The research paints a stark picture of rising costs for bringing up children at a time when the government is cutting its contribution to children’s costs and wages are stagnating.
‘Ministers chose to make children and families the main target of their austerity agenda, cutting billions from child benefit, child tax credit, childcare credits and working tax credit. Even disabled children are having their disability additions slashed in half. The research is a warning that we’ve reached a dangerous turning point.’
Chris Goulden, head of team (poverty) at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, added: ‘Bringing up children has never been cheap, that’s a constant and clear message that you will hear from any parent. But what this research shows, for the first time, is the cost of giving a child a minimum acceptable standard of living, from birth to age eighteen.’
One of the key findings from the research was the changing spending needs of families. Chris Goulden added: ‘Speaking directly to groups of parents for this research, they were clear that not being able to afford to take part in school activities, go to birthday parties or have a modest annual family holiday will have serious consequences for the development of their children.’
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