'Parents should encourage children to save'

Parents should encourage their children to start saving their pocket money early, in preparation for later life, according to one financial services provider.

Liverpool Victoria’s (LV=) media relations manager Lucy Pope commented: "Potentially the parents could recommend that the child puts that in their own savings account or something instead of maybe spending it on bits of pieces that they wanted.

"Five and a half thousand pounds once invested could, over time, come into quite a nice sum of money."

Research from LV= found that the average cost of raising a child is rising.

It was found that parents spend an average of £186,000 on raising their offspring up to the age of 21.

Those with kids in central London have to fork out the most, devoting over £199,000 towards their upbringing.

The study also found that UK children receive an average of £5,518 of pocket money before their 18th birthday.