So how much does it cost to bring up a child?

Apparently the current average cost of raising a child till their 21st birthday no stands at more than £218, 000.  Try doubling let alone trebling that sum and it can seem a bit daunting.  Independent Financial Advisors Enable are experts in helping you make the most of your earnings and savings, putting in place financial plans to help you cope with the stresses and strains of family life.

It would seem childcare and education are the biggest cost to parents according to LV’s Cost Of a Child Survey.  Childcare coming in at £71780 and education at £62 099. IFA's like Enable can help you plan for managing these costs but one of the first things you should do when starting a family is make sure you are receiving any of the benefits you are entitled to.  Child benefit for example is for parents with dependents up to 16 or until the age of 20 if in fulltime education. It is about £20 a week for your fist and slightly less for subsequent children, although every child will be entitled to some benefit. But remember families earning more than £50,000 p.a will not be entitled to the full amount and those on £60,000 or more will stop getting any child benefit in 2013.

Whether or not your family is entitled to child benefit Enable's Independent Financial Advisors can try and help you get maximum benefit from you finances for your family.

Back to School

Counting the cost of bringing up baby in Bishop’s Stortford?  Our Independent Financial Advisor's at Enable know it has always cost to have a family and can help you make sensible financial planning; savings and investments to help manage those costs. According to the Halifax the average cost of raising a child up to the age of 11 increased to £8,307 a year in 2011, the figure represents a 15 per cent increase over the last five years and means that it now costs more than £90,000 to raise a child to secondary school age.

It says inflation, as measured by the Retail Price Index, increased by 18 per cent over the past five years and parents now spend around 18 per cent, of their income on bringing up a child. Cost associated with education have increased by 24 per cent in the last five years, with uniforms, equipment, school lunches and school trips adding up to £849 in 2012. Child care costs have also increased, with nurseries and child-minding costs up by 22 per cent in 2011. Together, schooling and child care costs account for half of the total annual amount spent by parents on raising their children.

Spending on food and holidays fell in real terms, according to the study. In 2011 parents spent £889 feeding their children in 2011, an increase of 14 per cent from £780 in 2007, while the cost of holidays for children increased by 16 per cent to £740. Parents spent £513 on children’s clothing in 2011, 15 per cent less than in 2007.