Survey results provided by Cotton Traders
Whilst Jack is too young to be attending school right now, I remember all too clearly how stressful and expensive the summer holidays can be for parents – I know that I definitely ran my parents ragged when I was off for that amount of time – always desperate to go somewhere or do something, even if I had done it the day before! My cousins and I often used to spend days at our grandparents just to give our parents some peace and quiet!
Since I was a school age child though, we have gone through a recession and it is interesting to see how little people budget for the holidays now, with 37% not budgeting at all according to a survey conducted by Cotton Traders, simply due to not being able to afford to budget for this! It is also interesting to note that more parents (35%) are choosing to take holidays in the UK than abroad(34%). I always holidayed in the UK when I was a child so this doesn’t shock me as many of my friends did too – but you can certainly see why when prices rise dramatically as soon as holiday companies hear the words ‘school holidays’. 11% aren’t even taking a holiday this year due to a lack of budget!
It is interesting to see what impact the summer holidays have on families – some families have to take annual leave separately to their partner so lose out on quality family time and when asked what age children could be left at home to their own devices, the majority of parents said 13 which I suppose is a fair age – although I was never allowed!
I used to love doing all manners of things when I was off school for the holidays – the seaside, the park, museums, zoos, sleepovers – you name it, I probably did it. It seems a shame that some children may not be able to experience a great 6 weeks like I did.