Nick JR

Nick JR

With Alistair Darling set to announce the new Budget tomorrow and the cost of raising a child in the UK soaring to more than £186,000, new survey findings announced by popular preschool TV channel Nick Jr discover how today’s parents are saving for their offspring’s future – or whether they are at all.

Nick Jr’s study of over 800 parents found that almost two fifths are not actively saving for their children’s future (37.1%). Over half of all families questioned from the North East admitted they weren’t saving, whilst Londoners were most likely to be investing in one way or another.

With private schooling setting back parents up to £130,500 and the cost of sending a child to university typically reaching £47,000, education is unsurprisingly the biggest financial concern, with 23.8% of UK parents saving for school or university fees.

The survey revealed that Dads and more likely than Mums to prefer riskier investment options, putting their money into stocks and shares (14.6%) and property (9.8%). These choices were also favoured by younger parents, who were additionally by far the most likely to invest in a child pension (44.4%).

6.3% of parents are opting to save for their child’s first car, especially those parents in older age groups. Families living in Wales were also over four times as likely to invest for their offspring’s first set of wheels (10.3%) as those in the South West (2.4%), where they were least likely to be saving for their child’s first car. Only one in ten parents in Wales are saving for educational fees, compared with almost a third of parents in London and Northern regions.

Parents from Yorkshire are the least likely to invest in stocks and shares, at only 2.5% of those questioned. Property investments are popular with Londoners (26.6%), but parents in the North West and Wales are less likely to put their children’s money into this volatile market (2.7% and 2.6% respectively).

In December it was found that the average cost of raising a child in the UK from birth to the age of 21 had soared to £186,032, which is set to rise to £265,500 in 2012.

However despite parents investing increasing amounts of money on their children’s welfare, only 44.3% of those surveyed felt that their children have more opportunities in life than they did.

“These findings are really interesting as they show the various ways in which today’s parents are considering the financial future for their children”, says Howard Litton, Managing Director of Nickelodeon UK. “Becoming a parent makes you re-evaluate your lifestyle and whether it’s the best it possibly can be for your child.”