Over a third of parents say they will end up with debt problems as a result of the school summer holidays, a new survey has found.
The research by poverty charity Elizabeth Finn Care, in conjunction with YouGov, aimed to look at the impact of the summer holidays on family finances.
16% of those surveyed said that they would be using a credit card to cover the costs of the summer holiday whilst 14% will resort to using their overdrafts, and a further 8% of parents will borrow money from family members.
30% of parents surveyed said that the recession meant that they would not be able to take a family summer holiday this year because of financial worries, and a further 11% said that they are planning to take their children out of school to go on holiday because it is cheaper to go outside of the school holidays, with a holiday in peak time in mid-august costing up to 85% more.
The chief executive of Elizabeth Finn Care, Matthew Sykes, said: “Our research shows the apparent willingness of families to go into debt to cover the cost of the summer holidays.
“Worryingly, 4% will even borrow the money from a doorstep lender offering ‘quick fix’ loans and risk owing a huge amount of interest.
“At the same time we know that £16.8bn of welfare benefits went unclaimed from 2007 to 2008 and those in genuine financial need to see what benefits they are entitled to and if they are eligible for grants from charities.”
Barnardo’s, the children’s charity, said that they predicted a rise this year in the number of families who would suffer debt problems as the result of the summer holidays.
Parents have said that they will be forced to cut down on the number of activities for thie children over the summer holidays, with 19% saying they would not be able to afford taking their children swimming, 25% saying a day a the seaside was too expensive, 40% will not be taking their children to theme parks and 10% will not have enough money to pay for an activity club.
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