Cost of raising a child soars to £225k

THE cost of raising a child to 21 has risen 58 per cent in the past ten years, according to a new report.

It costs Scottish parents £225,338 to raise a child – while in the UK as a whole the average is £222,000 – according to insurer LV= annual Cost of a Child Report.

Education and childcare are the biggest costs, with 76 per cent of parents saying they have been forced to make cutbacks to meet the financial demands of raising their offspring, the ­survey found.

The overall figure is more than £4,000 up on last year and £82,000 more than ten years ago, when the first annual Cost of a Child Report was published.

The cost of education, including uniforms, after-school clubs and university costs but not private school fees, has rocketed from £32,593 to £72,832 per child in the past ten years – a 124 per cent increase.

In Scotland, the cost of childcare is the highest in the UK, with parents paying an average of £66,147 over the lifetime of a child.