It’s no secret that having children can be expensive, especially if you’re a single parent. In fact, research from consumer legal services company,
Slater and Gordon,
tells us which cities in the UK are the most expensive for raising kids during the six week summer holiday.

The survey of 1,000 single parents across the UK shows that people spend on average an extra £207.80 on each child over the summer break. Shockingly, one in five (18%) will spend upwards of £300 per child
on additional activities such as days out, holiday clubs, babysitting and additional food and drink which, if you have multiple children, quickly adds up.

When it comes to which cities are the most expensive, surprisingly, London comes out as one of the cheapest. The full list, including how much on average is spent per child, is:

·
Glasgow, £253.4

·
Sheffield, £248.1

·
Belfast, £238.8

·
Plymouth, £236.4

·
Cardiff, £233.5

·
Liverpool, £225.7

·
Edinburgh, £222.7

·
Leeds, £218.3

·
Manchester, £213.1

·
Birmingham, £204.5

·
Nottingham, £202.8

·
Southampton, £201.0

·
Brighton, £197.6

·
London, £197.0

·
Norwich, £190.1

·
Newcastle, £175.8

·
Bristol, £162.9A

The six-week break from school has significant impact on household budgets in
London with 49% of single parents saying they have experienced financial hardship due to the additional costs of having children at home and
52% spend the summer worrying about money. This has most likely been exacerbated further this year due to the cost of living crisis.

Despite almost half of single parents experiencing serious money troubles during the break, 14% said they would not let their children’s other parent take them on holiday if they themselves were not able to take them on a holiday of equal value. This can eventually lead to animosity when trying to co-parent which has a negative impact on children.