Parents to spend over £1,000 to prepare children for work

Parents in the UK will spend an average of £1,093 getting their children prepared for work, according to new research from Gocompare.com.

The majority of the money is put towards kitting them out for a job and helping with travel and other associated costs.

One thousand parents of 16 to 19 year olds were asked about the financial help they expected to provide their children to support them in the first year of their working life. Some 72 per cent thought this would cost them up to £1,000, while 29 per cent expect to fork out more.

Travel costs (37 per cent) and suitable work clothing (35 per cent) topped the list of parent's anticipated expenditure. This was followed by their child's mobile phone bill (27 per cent).  

A fifth of people think they will have to help their child with buying a car during their first year as they will need one to get to and from work, while a further 17 per cent expect to contribute towards insuring the vehicle itself.

However, once their children settle into their jobs, many parents said they feel they should become more financially independent.

They expect their offspring to pay for their own clothes (68 per cent), mobile phone bill (67 per cent) holidays (48 per cent), car (39 per cent) and insurance (42 per cent).

A further 56 per cent believe their children should make a contribution towards household bills, while just over half (52 per cent) would like them to pay for some of the food and drink.

Claire Peate, customer insight manager from Gocompare.com, said: "Starting your first job can be both an exciting and a nerve-wracking experience and as most workers are paid in arrears, many new recruits face upfront expenses such as clothing and travel costs."

She went on to say the survey suggests that while many parents are happy to support their children financially in their first year of work, they expect them to be more independent as they become regular wage earners.

"For young people faced with paying for their own bills for the first time, comparison websites can help them make their money go further by helping them find the best deals on mobile phone tariffs and insurances," she added.

Meanwhile, parents are also helping their children with money should they be going into higher education. They will contribute, on average, £2,439 to kit their offspring out for university and support them through their first year, according to separate research from Gocompare.com.

A total of 1,000 parents of 16 to 19 year olds were surveyed about their plans for university and over two-thirds (62 per cent) said money was an issue when deciding whether or not their children would go on to further education.

Some 43 per cent expect to contribute financially to help their kids with university costs, but more than a fifth (21 per cent) said that they are not sure how they are going to manage getting kids through.

It appears the bank of mum and dad continues to support children as they grow up, whether they choose to work or go to university.

By Joe White