Parents sacrifice holidays to pay for private education
A news survey conducted by JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) has revealed that more than half (52 per cent) of parents have sacrificed holidays to help cover the costs of putting their child through private school. Some 58 per cent of parents who pay towards their child's private education said that ten per cent or more of their household income on school fees.As well as giving up holidays, nearly a third of parents said that they had cut back on or ditched their hobbies and 30 per cent said they had slashed the amount they spent on their car to find the money for school fees.These budget adjustments are hardly surprising, considering that the average cost of private school fees is a fifth of the average household income in the UK.Over half (54 per cent) of parents who sent their child to private school said they had made the decision because of poor choice of state schools in their area, and 81 per cent said they did so because they believed it would give their child a better education.James Saunders Watson, head of sales and marketing for investment trusts at JPMAM said: "While many parents may think sending their child to private school is the preserve of the privileged, our research shows that more than half of parents took this decision because they felt it was the only viable option for their child due to a lack of sufficient state schools in their neighbourhood. "In doing this they are committing a large chunk of their finances to schooling and are meeting these with dramatic lifestyle changes, many of which are impacting on how they spend their free time."
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