The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Scottish families finding adolescence expensive
Survey shows price of raising teenagers
Scottish parents shell out the equivalent of a full year’s salary while dealing with the angst and tantrums of those turbulent teenage years.
New research has shown the bank of mum and dad pays out more than £27,000 to support offspring from the age of 13 to 19.
The survey of 2,000 people has uncovered a range of family cost statistics, with 35% of parents revealing they have fallen out with a bad-tempered teen after refusing to spend money on them – 11% more than the UK figure.
More than a quarter (27%) said they have experienced some form of emotional blackmail or guilt trip from their child.
After giving in to spending, more than half of Scottish parents buy technology for their teens despite having reservations about possible online threats.
The most common items are mobile phone contracts (72%), handsets (56%) and games consoles (41%).
Parental contributions make up an average of £250 per year towards teen tech costs, with 43% believing technology benefits their children socially and 62% feeling it aids education.
In contrast, 59% said they feel technology exposes teens to negative influences, while 33% said it harms family relationships.
Despite falling out with their teens more regularly, it seems Scots are a slightly softer touch than other Brits, with 37% saying they spend more than they should compared to the UK average of 34%.
Almost half of those surveyed admitted feeling pressured into spending and more than a third said they sacrifice socialising or saving cash to buy items.
Indeed, a massive 49% of parents said they have to raid funds other than their regular income to fund their teens’ expenses, with 36% using credit cards and 26% working overtime.
Less than a third (28%) of parents said their teens know exactly what they earn and 34% said their children think they earn more than they actually do.
Only 34% of respondents to the Aviva Cost of Youth survey feel their teenagers are good at managing money and just 47% said they had taught them about basic budgeting and banking.