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Other costs researchers estimated included haircuts, Christmas and birthday gifts, nappies, bikes, baby cots and buggies, school trips, meals and days out, fuel to ferry them to events, books, pets, phones, sports gear and hobbies. The most expensive year for a son or daughter is when they hit 10 – as youngster’s heads are turned by the latest gadgets, current clothing labels and expensive apps and gaming add-ons.

Published by children’s bike and scooter subscription service Bike Club, their data analysts found childcare by far the most expensive child-raising cost – along with, food, Christmas, travel, and clothes.

The total figure works out at an average family expense of £8366.95-a-year per child, although the costs rise as the child heads towards their teens and beyond.

Bike Club founder James Symes said: “This study provides fascinating insight into the real cost of family life in Britain today.

“Taking everything into consideration shows why many families have little money left to enjoy days out once everything else has been paid for.

“Everyone is going to be looking at how much they’re spending now and what their outgoings are, so hopefully this data will help.”

The detailed study – which also breaks down the cost difference of raising a son or a daughter – came about due to the rising cost-of-living crisis and partly uses data supplied by 1,035 UK parents with kids aged from babies to 16 years-old.

The data shows school-related costs reach a whopping £114.19 every summer when kids need new uniform, having grown out of last year’s while clothes in general make up a large chunk of the cost, around £311 a year on average.

The cost of feeding a child at home, excluding meals out and school dinners – £1,104-a-year – was calculated using Office of National Statistics data on family shopping baskets.

Mobile phones (£343-year), games consoles (£247) and bedding (£128), grooming products (£167) and school dinners £243) hike the total cost further while footwear alone parents are faced with a bill of around £184 a year.

Pets for your kids can cost up to £268 a year on food and vets bills, while parents other annual costs are healthcare needs (£185), friend’s birthday gifts (£136) and big days out to large sporting or entertainment events (£250).

Even having your child’s haircut every couple of months is a vast expensive which equates to around £136 every 12 months.

Astronomical bills for days out, holidays and birthdays push the total bill through the roof with fuel a big expense too.

The Bike Club report reveals our babies’ early years especially don’t come cheap – with new mums and dads facing bills of around £222 for a cot, £333 for nursery furniture and £158 for a highchair.

The study also found on average boys are more expensive to raise than girls. The typical bill for a boy was £136,363.58 while the total for girls came in at £131,520.30 – a difference of £4,843.28, or £302.70 every year.

It also emerged that between the ages of two and 16, loving parents can pay out around £2,686 on bicycles alone, and that’s only for one child but the cost-of-living crisis has led to many families resorting to pedal power to get around.

The study shows overall, one in five (20.02 percent) of the 1,035 parents who took part said they were now more likely to cut down on using the car and opt for cycling.

And around one in three (32.09 percent) said they were already doing this to cut back on costs but also to improve their children’s mental health.

And 26 percent said they have had to cut back on the number of paid-for after school clubs and activities that their child or children attended to reduce their costs.

Mr Symes added: “The cost of living is only going to increase, so more people will cut back on activities which prove expensive.

“Children’s mental health is incredibly important and the fact more people are choosing to opt for two wheels rather than four to take the kids out in the sunshine can only be a positive thing.”

“The pandemic, together with the growing trend for health and wellbeing, has spurred a significant uptick in family cycling and demand continues to be at its highest level in decades.”

“Cycling is one of the very best ways for children to get active, build confidence and develop vital skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.”

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