Middle class spend £194k raising each child

Some middle class parents are estimated to be spending an average of £194,000 on their children thanks to the power of designer advertising.

A Government inquiry has revealed that a new generation of 'trophy children' are being raised as pestered parents succumb to their children’s demands.

Some parents are equating high-cost items to good parenting, according to the inquiry by Professor David Buckingham.

Therefore, high-status goods such as laptops are becoming increasingly popular among middle-class students

The fear of crime and road accidents has led to traditional play being supplanted by trips to shopping centres and theme parks, and home-based activities such as TV and computers, it warned.

It means children are being targeted by a rising tide of advertising - some with inappropriate sexual content - from the youngest ages.

The report stated: “It is important to note here that children can serve as vehicles for parental consumption, and particularly for the conspicuous display of high-status goods, well before they are able to articulate their own wants or needs.”

Research in relatively wealthy societies had pointed to the phenomenon of 'trophy children', and the “considerable amounts of money spent on items such as hi-tech buggies, designer baby clothes and play equipment by affluent parents (and indeed grandparents)”.