Two incomes needed to meet ends

Making the ends meet in a family with children now requires both the parents to work, research has shown.

Insurer Scottish Widows found that almost 60% of families with children are forced to rely on having two salaries to pay their bills and short-term debts.

In contrast, only 36% of families without dependent children are reliant on two salaries.

More families with children were also seen to be accumulating debts in their struggle to cope with rising payments.

The short-term debt levels of an average household with dependent children is £8,653 through credit cards and loans, while households without children owed £7,003.

Families with children were also found to have higher mortgages, with the outstanding home loan averages up by £3,000 from last year to £91,648.

The average of households without children went down by £4,000 in the previous 12 months, to £77,500.

Clive Allison, protection director at Scottish Widows, said: "The days of one parent going out to work while the other takes care of the family is just not an option for many people.

"More than half of families with dependent children now rely on two incomes to maintain a decent standard of living, and this isn't likely to ease off any time soon."

Copyright © Press Association 2010
All articles are copyright The Press Association 2010. News articles provided by The Press Association for Family Investments. Whilst every care it taken to ensure accuracy of editorial content, Family Investments takes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. The views expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Family Investments.

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