Cost of raising teenagers is put at £28,000
PARENTS typically spend more than £28,000 raising a teenager and the age of 16 is the biggest pressure point, a report has found.
Excluding household costs such as food and energy bills, parents typically estimate the average cost of raising a son or daughter from the age of 13 to 19 is £28,767, according to Aviva. The average annual UK wage is £26,104.
While parents say they spend just over £4,100 a year on raising a teenager on average, the most expensive year is when their child reaches 16, costing their parent around £4,800.
Birthdays and special occasions, holidays and gap years, food and drink outside of the regular supermarket shop, clothing and pocket money make up the biggest chunks of the cost, the report found.
Almost half of parents with teenagers feel pressured to spend more on them, with the biggest source of pressure being put down to teenagers themselves.
Parents of 13 to 15-yearolds are more likely to feel pressured by their children than those with 16 to 19-yearolds, the study suggests.
Nearly one in four (24 per cent) parents had fallen out with their child for refusing to buy them something and 17 per cent felt they had been “guilt tripped” into making purchases for their teenager.
More than half (53 per cent) of parents spend on technology for their teenagers, such as mobile phones and laptops, forking out £225 per year on average.
The research also found that the pressure on parents does not end when their children leave their teenage years behind, with another £15,406 also being needed to guide each child between the ages of 20 and 25.
The findings came as a global survey from HSBC found British parents are among the least likely to have a specific pot of money saved for their child’s education.