小兒難養：英國育兒成本達十年最高峯大綱

The Cost of raising a child has hit an all-time high, according to a new report, heaping pressure on families already coping with cuts to child benefit.

Figures from insurer LV='s annual Cost of a Child Report show that the cost of a bringing a child up to the age of 21 has reached £222,458 - more than £4,000 higher than last year and up £82,000 on ten years ago.

The insurer estimates that this is set to reach £350,000 by 2023 if costs continue to increase at the same rate.

The report will be a further blow for hard-working families ascash-strappedparents continue to struggle with rising household bills and wage freezes and cuts to child benefit. The right to receive the payments, worth £20.30 a week for the first child and £13.40 for further children, was removed earlier this month from households with one earner on a salary of more than £60,000 and reduced for families where one member is paid more than £50,000.

The research published today shows costs have risen in all areas over the last decade, except for clothing, down 5pc, with education seeing the biggest increase.

As a result, more than three-quarters of parents have been forced to make cutbacks tomake ends meet. According to LV=, more than four in ten arereining inspending on luxuries such as holidays, a third are also cutting back how much they spend onessentialssuch as food.

Education and childcare remains the biggest expenditure for parents. The cost of education, including uniforms, after school clubs and university costs, has shot up from £32,593 to £72,832 per child in the last ten years.

Childcare costs have also rocketed, up from £39,613 in 2003 to £63,738 today.

The rising cost of nursery care is high on the agenda for the Coalition. But it recently backed away from plans to give every parent with children under five tax relief worth about £2,000 per child. It had beenbilledas the principal policy to emerge from the Coalition’s Mid-Term Review.

The cost of electronic gadgets has presented a new financial strain on family budgets, with annual spend increasing to £302, as have holidays, up from £11,458 a decade ago to £16,195. However, the increase on each is likely to be due to families committing more of theirdiscretionary spendingrather than being just down to price rises.

“The cost of raising a child continues to soar and is now at a ten year high,” said Mark Jones, head of protection at LV=.

“Everyone wants the best for their children, but the rising cost of living is pushing parent’s finances to the limit. There seems to be no sign of this trend reversing. If the costs associated with bringing up children continue to rise at the same pace, parents could face a bill of over £350,000 in ten years’ time.”據最新報道，英國育兒成本再創新高。英國之前已經削減了兒童津貼，而育兒成本的上升更加重了養育子女的家庭負擔。

據保險公司LV=在年度育兒成本報告中提供的數據，將孩子撫養到21歲的成本已經達到22.2萬英鎊，比去年多出4000英鎊，比十年前多出8.2萬英鎊。

LV=公司預測到如果育兒成本以當前的速度繼續增長下去，到2023年育兒費用將高達35萬英鎊。

由於經濟拮据的父母要同時應付家庭支出上漲、工資凍結以及兒童補貼縮減的困境，此報告對於這些努力工作的家庭來說無疑是又一波重大的打擊。原先年薪超過6萬英鎊的單收入家庭和其中一人年薪超過5萬英鎊的家庭都有權得到兒童補貼，生第一個孩子每週能得到20.3英鎊，再生更多的孩子每週還能得到13.4英鎊。然而這項政策在本月早些時候被取消了，第一類家庭將得不到任何補貼，第二類家庭的補貼將有所減少。

今天公佈的研究表明，在過去十年裏除了服裝領域的花費下降了5%，其它領域的開支均有所上升，其中教育開支上漲最多。

結果超過四分之三的父母都被迫節衣縮食以維持生計。LV=公司宣稱，五分之二的家庭現在嚴格控制度假等享樂性開支，三分之一的家庭還在削減食物等必需品的開支。

教育和兒童保育仍舊是父母最大的開支項目。在過去十年裏，每個孩子的平均教育支出（包括校服、課外俱樂部和大學費用）從3.26萬英鎊飆升到了7.28萬英鎊。

兒童保育費用也從2003年的3.96萬英鎊飆升到現在的6.37萬英鎊。

聯合政府的議程上幼兒保育的費用也逐日攀升。聯合政府中期評審會議通過的最主要的政策是給有五歲以下幼兒的父母每個孩子免2000英鎊的稅收，而這項計劃最近卻被取消了。

電子設備的開支成爲家庭預算中新的財務壓力，每年在這方面的開支已上升至320英鎊。度假開支也從十年前的1.15萬英鎊上升到1.62萬英鎊。不過，這兩個方面開支增長很可能是因爲可自由支配的開支增多，而不只是因爲物價上漲。

LV=公司的保護部負責人馬克•瓊斯表示：“撫養孩子的成本持續攀升，目前已達到十年以來的最高峯。”

“每個家長都想給自己的孩子最好的，但日益上漲的生活費用即將掏空父母的錢袋。而且沒有跡象顯示這一趨勢會逆轉。如果父母養育孩子的成本繼續以當前的速度上漲的話，十年後育兒成本將超過35萬英鎊。”