With the UK schools closed for summer, British parents may have to shell out around GBP2,474 on childcare and entertainment this summer to keep their children occupied.
A survey of 5,000 British parents shows that summer breaks are often a cause of worry for working parents, as they have to allow for the additional expense of having children at home when both parents are working, or for the cost of keeping them entertained during bad weather.
Worried parents are likely to spend, an average of GBP351 on childcare, GBP504 on day outings, and GBP665 on supplementary transportation and food, as they struggle to keep children busy in summer camps, on entertainment programmes, and holidaying with the family.
Around 17 percent of parents with children below 18 years of age have opted not to take a vacation this summer, while 53 percent of parents surveyed are likely to restrict their vacation to the UK.
Travelodge, a UK based company operating a chain of budget hotels, has reported an increase in ‘staycations’, the buzzword for Brits holidaying in the UK, according to its reservation data.
Travelodge spokesperson, Shakila Ahmed, said, ‘We’re calling it ‘hotel hopping’. We have seen a significant rise this year of people visiting two or three destinations in a week rather than staying at just one. Families might stop off at Eastbourne, Brighton and Bognor Regis exploring the Sussex coast, for example.
Resourceful Britons are making one holiday feel like more, which is a great way of keeping the children entertained during the holidays.
Parents told us that entertaining children on rainy days is GBP53 more expensive than on dry days. More rain could really put the Wellington boot into already cash-strapped parent’s budgets.’
