Parents struggle to fill Christmas stockings

Children are set to have a disappointing Christmas this year with the average spend per child set to be £60 on Christmas presents, according to new research by Family Investments, the family savings specialist and UK's leading Child Trust Fund provider.

This is barely enough to afford some of the items on this year's top ten Christmas toy list and is significantly less than last year, where parents spent on average £115 on each child.

As the credit crunch crisis worsens, parents will be cutting back considerably on the amount they spend on each child this year, as 71% would prefer any spare cash to go towards longer term savings for their children.

Manchunians will be splashing out the most on Christmas presents with an average spend per child of £108, compared to Londoners who's average spend this year will be £60, suggesting that London is the region that is feeling the brunt of the economic crisis.

Grandparents are set to be spending an average of £50 and up this year, with Scottish Grandparents being the most likely to spend over £200. However, the research revealed that parents would prefer alternative Christmas presents for children from grandparents this year with more than half of parents (54%) saying they would prefer Grandparents to make a payment into their child's savings account as a Christmas gift and give a smaller present instead.

Kate Baker, Head of savings and investments at Family Investments said: ‘Christmas is always an expensive time of year, and parents are planning to cut back on children's presents this year, in order to help the strain and enable them to still keep their longer term savings topped up. In our experience saving for a child's trust fund is still a priority with 36% of parents willing to suggest to Grandparents a donation towards their child's savings, instead of presents this Christmas.'