Having Children? Brace Yourself for the Cost Involved

Having kids can be expensive. While every one of the near-700,000 babies born in the UK every year has the ability to bring great joy into the lives of their mum and dad, there’s no doubting that they also cost money.

The infographic below looks at the financial ‘lifecycle’ of the average adult – with the sorts of challenges they face from their twenties through to their retirement. It’s clear that children feature prominently in this. In their first year alone, children have more than £11,000 spent on them while uniforms, trips, books and other items amount to £1,600 just to put your little one through a state school.

Even when they’ve gone to university, parents spend hundreds of pounds a month on helping their children with their studies.

Parents, therefore, need to be adept at managing money. Whether that’s having a rainy day fund in a savings account to help children with university fees or being able to choose the right credit card to make a big ticket purchase so that their monthly budget works – it’s a skill that needs to be mastered. As well as nappy changing, bedtime stories and taxi duties!

Still, forewarned is forearmed. Prepare yourself for the costs to come ahead in your life and you’ll be able to properly focus on the good times and the magical moments with your children.