Parents spend scary sums on treats this Halloween

British parents will dish out £200 million entertaining their children this Halloween according to a new study from Egg, the internet bank. The money, £15.12 per family, will go on sweets, outfits, parties and presents, with parents' entertainment starting in earnest during the October half-term break.

In addition to the cost of Halloween, Egg's study reveals that the average family in the UK collectively will spend nearly £270 over the half term holidays keeping their offspring occupied, with the top five activities being:

Going out for lunch (60%)
Going to the cinema (52%)
Buying DVDs (42%)
Purchasing books/comics (41%)
Dishing out extra pocket money (24%)

Over three quarters (77 per cent) of parents admit they spend more money than they can afford in keeping their children busy over the half term break. Nearly a third (31 per cent) say it's important to splash the cash to avoid their kids being bored, one in 11 (9 per cent) say it shows their kids how much they love them and one in 25 (4 per cent) admit they simply follow the lead from other parents.

Vanessa Wood, spokesperson at Egg, said: "Halloween has become much more of a calendar event in the UK than it used to be and we can see this reflected in the cost to parents. But Halloween is only the tip of the iceberg; keeping children entertained throughout half term also sees a big hit on the purse strings.

"So with Christmas not that far away it is wise for parents to get creative with their spending during this time and a good way to get back some of the cost is to make the most of rewards and cash-back schemes on credit cards.

"The Egg Money World MasterCard for example offers rewards and discounts on top online retailers, travel and day trip offers, as well as 1% cash-back on all purchases worldwide. So using Egg Money World MasterCard this half-term could be a useful help towards the Christmas stockings!"

For more information on Egg products visit egg.com.