12 days to Christmas - parents to spend over £2 billion
On Monday 13 December Christmas will be just twelve days away, and children across the country will increasingly be looking forward to a visit from Santa. But the 12 days to Christmas can be a stressful time for parents, as the ‘Cost of a Child’ study from insurance, investment and retirement group LV=, reveals parents will spend a bumper £2.2 billion on festive presents for their children this year.
Twelve days to Christmas key present shopping statistics
1 Parents are planning on spending a massive £2.2 billion on presents for their children
2 Mums and dads will spend an average £168 on presents per child this Christmas
3 Over half (53%) of all parents will spend the same or more on their children than they did last year
4 A quarter of parents (27%) are feeling under more financial pressure than they did last year, possibly reflecting the increased spend by many parents
5 Two-thirds (62%) of parents plan to spend less on other family members this year to help balance budgets
6 Kids under four will have £124 spent on them
7 Children aged 11 to 18 will have £201 spent on them
8 Parents in the North East are the most generous and will spend an average of £226 on presents and stocking-fillers, £58 more than the national average
9 Those in the East Midlands will be spending the least at £151 per child
10 Londoners are intent on splashing out an average of £162 on their sons and daughters this year
11 A third (36%) of parents say they will need to cut back on what they spend on presents for their children
12 To avoid any tears on Christmas morning with one in ten (9%) have already spoken to their children about not expecting as much this year
Mark Jones, LV= head of protection, said: “Despite the economic downturn parents are still keen to make Christmas one to remember this year. It’s important that people try and look beyond the short term and also ensure that they have suitable budgets and long term financial plans in place. Even a small drop in a family’s income can make it hard to balance the books, especially at this time of year, and people should make sure they have adequate protection in place to look after their finances if the unexpected should happen.”
LV=’s annual Cost of a Child study, released earlier this year, showed that on average parents are now likely to have to shell out more than £201,000 on raising a child from birth to the age of 21.