Kids’ hobbies prove a great expense
As a young scamp I loved extra curricular activities, begging my mum for new adventures and taking classes in all sorts, including drama, horse-riding, swimming, singing and piano.
So, what did I achieve?
Well, I am neither a famous actress nor a championship rider, the only thing I can remember how to play on the piano is “chopsticks” and despite years of lessons, I still most definitely cannot sing.
(I can however swim)
Hobbies are great though. Whether they lead to a career or not, it’s great for kids to get involved in activities outside school, keeping active and having fun doing things they enjoy. And who knows, there’s always a chance their childhood ambitions could lead to bigger things…
Having said this, these activities are costly and new research from Alliance and Leicester has revealed that many parents may be in for a shock when it comes to the additional costs of these extra curricular activities.
Young aspiring actors and sport stars are putting an increased amount of pressure on parent’s purse strings and those wanting their rising star to stand out from the crowd may not have planned for the costs involved
Alliance and Leicester have calculated that hobbies such as drama and sporting activities could now be costing parents in the UK a massive £1.7 billion every year.
Parents of acting hopefuls can expect to pay at least £10 a session for weekend performing arts classes, while the parents of aspiring dancers will be paying around £7 a class for tutoring in jazz and ballet. Football wannabes can cost their parents over £130 just to be kitted out, plus a further £575 a year for holiday membership to a sports and activity camp. Add to these the cost of petrol to transport your child to and from their activities, and the bills soon start mounting up.
(The figure of 1.7 billion is based on the assumption that one in three kids take part in BOTH drama and sporting activities, and that each of these ambitious scamps take their drama classes in central London. It assumes they are each kitted out in the latest design football shirt, shorts, shoes, shin pads, bag ball and even ‘Chelsea socks’, so to be fair it’s probably a bit of an overestimate, but the fact remains that hobbies can be pricey.)
The research suggests that only one in 20 are saving up specifically for child related expenses and parents who have not made financial provisions may soon feel the pinch.
Indeed, forward planning is the key to providing your child with as many opportunities as possible and being able to invest in their future. Saving a little cash regularly can soon add up into a lump sum which will make additional costs easier to meet and reduce the stress of funding your child’s activities. For example, putting just £50 from your monthly wage packet into a high interest savings account or ISA will add up to £600 a year, plus interest. If you want to give your child a financial boost when they turn 18, then a Child Trust Fund could help maximise your savings.
I think most parents would appreciate that taking part in extra curricular activities can be of great benefit to their child’s development and worth planning ahead for.
Much more alarming than these statistics, is the recent research by Halifax, which claims that 76% of children now own a mobile phone and 68% also own an ipod or MP3 player. With the average phone bill costing £8.38 a month and 40% of kids downloading an average of four songs per week from the internet, Halifax have calculated that parents are currently paying out a total “portable entertainment maintenance bill” of £381.52 a year per child! And that’s not including the cost of the equipment.
Now, is this worth it? I’m really not sure…
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