When you first consider starting a family you only really think about all the things that you need to buy; pram, nursery furniture, car seat . . . all the big stuff. You know that you will obviously need to buy them clothes and feed them but hobbies don’t really factor into the financial planning very much. This is perhaps something that we should consider as hobbies can become quite expensive and once you start them, it can be difficult to stop.
A recent survey of 2,000 parents in the UK offered some very interesting insights;
- UK parents spend an average of £493 a year their child’s main hobby
- Girls are more expensive than boys, costing on average 23% more
- One in three parents feel under pressure to buy their child the latest gear/kit for their hobby
We have four children so we have to limit the amount of activities that our children do in comparison to some of their friends who are only children or have less siblings, though obviously parental earnings also makes a big difference.
Over the years we have paid for Will to attend football and kickboxing lessons, Lillie and Ollie both have weekly swimming lessons and Lillie used to attend ballet lessons. Albie starts school in September so it will soon be his turn to find which children’s hobbies he is most interested in taking part in, so far I think dancing will win!
