Are People Putting Off Having Kids Due To Money Worries?
By admin • Mar 23rd, 2010While there can be no doubt that starting a family is one of the biggest commitments you will ever make in your life, you may be surprised to learn that more and more young people are putting off having children as they are worried about their finances.
The UK economy may now be out of a recession, but for many people, cash continues to be a concern.
According to recent findings from the National Housing Federation, 41 per cent of young adults say they will put off having a family until they can afford to buy a new home.
And it is not just family plans that are being put on hold, with one in four people aged between 18 and 30 stipulating they would like their own home to move into before they consider tying the knot.
Meanwhile, a further seven per cent claimed they have already put off getting hitched because they cannot afford to climb the initial rung of the property ladder or they are still saving for such a purchase.
Commenting on the news, Catherine Hanly, associate editor of Mumsnet, said that you only have to look at the website’s discussion board to see how many mums agree that if people look at life logically, rather than emotionally, it was off-putting and hard to justify starting a family, due to the financial cost involved.
However, she added it is an "almost universal fact" that by jumping in and starting a family, households will survive.
"Most Mumsnetters didn’t know anyone who had put off having children because of money issues, although many of them said they’d made a conscious decision to limit the number of children they had because of financial pressures," Ms Hanly explained.
And the costs of raising a child can be daunting.
Indeed, according to research by LV=, mums and dads are likely to fork out £201,000 on raising a child from birth to the age of 21 - equating to £9,610 a year, £800 a month or £26 a day.
Since 2009, the cost of raising a child has risen by four per cent, while it is up 43 per cent since the survey began seven years ago.
The biggest expenditures involved in family life were found to be childcare and education, setting parents back £54,696 and £52,881 respectively over their child’s lifetime.
And amid the ongoing economy crisis, three in four parents have been forced to cut back on spending, while one in eight say their children have asked for less pocket money.
However, for many parents, regardless of the financial constraints involved, having children may be a decision they agree is the best they have ever made.
So although money may be tight, there could be plenty of joy that having a child brings that cannot have a price put on it.
Would you put off having children if you were worried about money?