• Nearly two fifths of parents (37 per cent) will be spending more on their children’s education this year due to lockdown
• Parents spent an average of £76 in the first week of sending their children back to school - equating to a total of £855 million across the UK
• Nearly two million parents (15 per cent) say since returning to school, their child has been anxious

New research¹ from Direct Line Life Insurance reveals that 4.2 million parents (37 per cent) claim they will be spending more on their children’s education this year due to lockdown. In the first week of their children returning to school, parents spent £76 on average, meaning across the UK parents spent a total of £855 million sending their kids back to school.

Nearly two million parents (18 per cent) expect to spend more on after school clubs than before the pandemic due to their children missing out on them over the past year. Similar numbers 1.9 million (17 per cent) will pay more on tutoring and extra after school lessons, while 1.5 million (13 per cent) will be setting aside funds for summer school. One in eight parents (12 per cent or 1.3 million) will even be spending more by dropping their children to school as they are concerned about them using public transport.

While nearly half of parents (45 per cent) said their children have largely been happy to return to school, 1.9 million (15 per cent) report that their child has remained anxious since returning.

Over 6.6 million parents had already seen their costs increase this year due to the pandemic making home schooling essential for many children. Parents have spent an average of £373, or a collective £4.7 billion², on items such as laptops, stationery and textbooks since March 2020, so children had access to learning from the home.

As a result of this, more than half (53 per cent) of parents, some 6.6 million people, say that their spending had increased per home-schooling term, with almost a fifth (18 per cent), or 2.3 million people, saying that their spending had increased ‘significantly’.

Yet simultaneously, a large proportion of parents have reported seeing their income decrease, creating a significant stress on their finances. More than 6.3 million parents saw their income reduce over the time their children have been home schooled.

During the period where children were home-schooled, parents were already spending to ensure their children’s life and education was impacted by the lockdown as little as possible. Online tutors to help with home schooling cost around £146 each term (45 per cent of parents), while virtual after school clubs cost around £130 (44 per cent). To try and maintain some social life for their child, parents also spent around £138 on virtual parties (45 per cent) and £123 on gifts for classmates (47 per cent).   

Vincent Guadagnino, Communications Manager at Direct Line Life Insurance, commented: “As lockdown restrictions continue to ease, many children are continuing to head back into the classrooms again, following what appears to have been an expensive time for parents. We know that this past year has been an incredibly hard time for everyone, with many families seeing their income decrease. Parents have been hit particularly hard having to juggle multiple responsibilities with the additional time and costs spent to teach their children. The reassurance that financial security brings must not be underestimated, especially in such uncertain times.”

For further information please visit https://www.directline.com/life-cover

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Notes to Editors

1.      Omnibus commissioned among 2,002 UK adults between 16^th and 19^th March 2021

2.      Omnibus commissioned among 2,000 UK adults between 9^th and 12^th February 2021

3.      The number of parents currently home-schooling children was calculated by extrapolating the proportion of parents who are home schooling their children (24 per cent) using the national adult population to get 12.6 million parents

For further information please contact:

Chelsey Wheeler 

Email: c[email protected]

Direct Line

Started in 1985, Direct Line became the first UK insurance company to use the telephone as its main channel of communication. It provides motor, home, travel, pet and life insurance cover direct to customers by phone or on-line.

Direct Line life insurance policies are underwritten by AIG, part of the American International Group UK Limited, registered office: The AIG Building, 58 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 4AB. American International Group UK Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority (FRN number 781109. You can check the FCA register at www.fca.org.uk/register or call the FCA on 0800 111 6768.

Customers can find out more about Direct Line products or get a quote by calling 0800 077 8297 or visiting www.directline.com/life-cover.