The average cost of raising a child totals £83,600 for the first eleven years, but parents in the capital shell out £110,500.
Childcare costs makes up for almost half of the overall spend at £41,139, according to the latest Cost of Children research from Halifax.
Parents spend an average of £633 a month, or £7,602, a year raising a child to secondary school age. Each month, childcare costs £311, food is the second biggest expense at £77 and holidays is the third largest expense at £59 a month.
Parents raising children in London have the highest monthly childcare cost at £386, followed by the South East at £330, while the North East has the lowest childcare costs at £289. Parents based in the capital spend almost double on holiday than parents in the East of England – £85 a month compared to £45 – and pay out over two and a half times the average on furniture for their child, and spend more than two times as much as parents in the West of England and Wales on personal care – £34 compared to £16.
According to the report, children costs their parents the most in the first year of their life, shelling out £8,500 in the first 12 months and reducing to £6,489 a year between the ages of five to eight.
Richard Fearon, head of Halifax Savings, said: ‘It is no exaggeration that having children is a huge commitment, the stark reality of how much it could cost you over the long term should not be underestimated.
‘The initial outlay can be a burden in the first year, but childcare remains a big expense through those early years, meaning careful financial planning is essential.’