Families in crisis

Cost of kids crippling

CASH- STRAPPED parents are turning to selling their possessions, working as Uber drivers and taking loans from friends according to new research that shows families are drowning in the cost of living.

Close to one in six Australian parents can’t afford to stay at home longer than a month after having a baby as they struggle to make ends meet.

And a shocking 8 per cent only have enough cash to last 1-2 weeks after the birth of a child.

News Corp Australia can reveal the true cost of living pressures families are facing, following a national survey of 2005 parents with children aged 0-12 years by finder.com.au.

The inaugural finder.com.au Cost of Kids 2017 Report found more than eight out of 10 Australians (86 per cent) struggled with some financial stress when they had kids. Two in five (39 per cent) said child- care fees were the biggest stress — forking out thousands of dollars every year on childcare.

A total of 17 per cent of respondents had sold belongings or assets, and about one in six had changed jobs to one which allowed them to work from home.

Almost one in 10 parents had done freelance work to make extra money, while 7 per cent had started some kind of online business. Around 7 per cent had borrowed money from friends or family, 6 per cent from the bank and 4 per cent rented out a spare room to make ends meet.

Starting a blog to make cash resonated with 3 per cent of respondents and 2 per cent had become an Uber driver to make ends meet.

Bessie Hassan, money expert with finder.com.au, said families were buckling under cost of living pressures.

“This research shows almost half — 42 per cent — of families are taking measures in order to bring in some muchneeded extra income,” she said.