Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Category:
Consolidation
Research from Abbey Savings has revealed that 28 percent of UK parents have no savings, whilst 36 percent are reliant on savings for day to day living and to pay bills. 20 percent of those parents with no savings, have less than £1000 for an emergency.
Concern is growing for families, more so those with children at primary school age, who are experiencing increased costs to raise their children. As a consequence, a quarter of parents have reduced the amount they are saving by up to £3,300 per annum. Some are even using existing savings, taking out an average of 28 percent of their entire savings this year. This is equivalent to £1,800.
Reza Attar-Zadeh, Director of Savings and Investments commented: "It's vital for everyone to have a rainy day fund even more so for parents, who must juggle the need to build up a nest egg for their children's future with the need to provide for the here and now".
According to Abbey Savings, childcare costs have increased by 6.5% since December 2007. From the age of 6 months up to 14 years, childcare could cost parents up to £53,818 per child. This works out at £332 per month. The cost of educating a child has also increased, with the average household now spending as much as £50,240 over their offspring’s lifetime. Included in this cost is £34,300 to put a child through a 3 year university degree which requires funds for tuition fees, travel, books and living expenses. A third of those surveyed by Abbey said that they wanted to save more each month in the future.
Reza Attar-Zadeh continues "It is concerning that many families are saving less, as this could leave them facing financial difficulty in the future. It's encouraging to see that some families are looking ahead and planning to save more - we hope this trend will continue".
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Homeowner parents who have relied on credit or store cards due to rising childcare costs, and who would like to
consolidate their debts, could consider doing so with a secured loan for debt consolidation. A secured loan is one of many options to consolidate debt and rather than having several repayments to make each month, the borrower will have just one. If opting for a secured loan to consolidate debt, it should be remembered that consolidating debt may increase the amount paid back overall and will also extend the repayment period of debts.
