£1.8 billion baby boom

Parents spend a colossal £2,628 on their child’s nursery - almost half the cost of a new Peugeot 107, according to research by Halifax Home Insurance.

Among the more unusual items that parents admitted to bestowing upon their children’s nurseries include designer Balzac chairs, hand carved antique furniture and original works of art. Parents surveyed also impose their own hobbies and interests on their children at a young age. One parent has hung a collection of original Star Wars film cells (scenes from the movie) featuring the characters of C3PO and R2D2.

Tele-tots

One-in-five children aged under three years has a television in their nursery, including high end plasma and LCD sets. Halifax Home Insurance estimates parents with children under three years old have invested approximately £358 million in televisions for their home nurseries.

Big Brother

Health and security worries have led many parents to consider upgrading from traditional baby monitors. One-in-twenty parents is considering installing CCTV to keep a watchful eye on their young children.

Halifax Home Insurance’s research found parents are decorating their children’s nurseries in the hope it will inspire their future career. Ambitious parents trying to inspire their children to grow up to be the next Beckham, Lampard or Gerrard are kitting out nurseries with complete football strips. Father’s surveyed had complete signed Chelsea, Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers strips hung in their children’s nurseries to inspire them to grow up to be footballers.

Prolific spending of over a billion pounds on children’s nurseries may be explained by the finding that time pressured parents are not setting a budget for their nursery project before starting work on their creation. Over two-thirds (68%) of parents with children under the age of three, or expecting a baby, did not set a budget for their home nursery. Of those parents that did set a limit, one-in-ten spent a staggering £1,000 more than they had originally planned.

Regional findings

Parents in Wales & West spend the most on nurseries each year, splashing out an average of £4,927, compared to just £574 by parents in Scotland. Parents in the Midlands are also pretty thrifty, keeping the cost of decorating and fitting out a nursery to under £1,000.

Vicky Emmott, senior manager of underwriting at Halifax Home Insurance, said, “The new baby boom is all about the amount parents are spending, to ensure their children start life in a luxury home nursery. Parents are spending almost half the price of a new car on their children’s home nurseries. Many expectant parents are unaware how the costs of cribs, Moses baskets, baby monitors and toys soon mount up.

Expectant parents bringing thousands of pounds of new items into the home should check their home insurance policy to ensure they have adequate cover. Policies that offer unlimited contents cover can protect parents bringing expensive gifts and baby monitoring equipment into the home from unwittingly contravening the terms of their policy.”