Do boys need less parenting and cost less to raise than girls?

[elliejjtiny]

Can you settle this debate for me because I have all sons so don't have any daughter experience.

My MIL insists that boys need "less parenting" than girls and that they cost less to bring up.

I think that's rubbish and it's about individual personality, if they have disabilities/health problems and how much parents are willing to pay.

We are broke so the dc know that they get clothes from Primark/supermarket/ebay and if they want anything fancier then it's a Christmas/birthday present. Apparently if they were girls I would "have" to buy them designer stuff otherwise they would get body image issues/eating disorders.

My dc have their fair share of problems, autism, self harming etc which apparently would be worse if they were girls. I don't think that's true. I think some issues are more common in boys or in girls but neither sex is particularly easy.

But apparently I am clueless about how hard it is to have girls because I don't have any.

Well I have two girls. 16 yo has about 5 t-shirts and couple of pairs of jogging bottoms. Attempts to get her to wear anything else are met with flat refusal, so I don't. No interest whatsoever in make-up/skincare/hair. She goes to the barbers to get a short back and sides every few weeks. She does have a lot of hobbies which cost a lot of money.

6 yo is a full-on princess and has a large rotation of party dresses which I buy on Vinted for £4-5 a time. She's never had a haircut. She's a bit of a diva but apart from that she's easy to bring up.

Neither of them self-harms, the older one is autistic but that's not really a problem, it's just who she is.

They may cost less clothes wise but they can make a serious dent in your food bill. My DS21 can still empty my fridge in 24hrs.

Have you ever seen the price of football shirts?

Seeing as you’re using sweeping generalisations.

Yes, this was going to be my question.

Us girls cost less. Because all the money was spent on the precious male children - sports, clothes, activities, bikes, etc, leaving us with a few books, a sketch pad and a packet of felt tips at Christmas.

I’m surprised so many people are answering seriously with information about how much parenting or money their different sex children need.

People say boys need less parenting because parents are happy to do a poorer job raising them. That’s all.

I think it's probably fair that many boys are cheaper. Mine were completely uninterested in clothes until teenage years and then not much. I know some boys are interested but then whether boys or girls it's the parents choice whether to indulge in designer labels or more clothes than necessary.
Sports gear, football boots expensive etc but then girls play sports as well.
In comparison with friends and family who had girls there was less drama definitely. Food consumption significantly higher.

It’s child dependent. One of mine has always cost more, middle one costs a lot more than they did now they are a mid teen, younger ones costs are pretty average.

As a PP said extras are a choice.

I have a classic sporty boy as my eldest. He’s only in primary school. It costs a fortune and all of our weekends to keep up with uniforms and team fees and additional coaching fees and sports rehab appointments for injuries and growing pain type things that active kids get, it’s been over $1000 in health care in the last month excluding the orthodontics, and we are all travelling for his sport as a family over Easter. A stereotypical girl like your mil is thinking of would cost soooo much less! But I hope dd will be pretty sporty too and won’t be buying her skincare with strong products at 10.

Exactly. And Le Bron shoes and singlets from their basketball team!

My DDs were significantly easier to raise, they would colour and read and play with toys whereas my son would be swinging from the curtain rail given half a chance

Girls were not expensive when they were young, teens it was make up mostly. Prom was expensive though.

Ds is into gaming which costs a fortune.

Sounds like my family
18 yr old boy that wears a mix of named brands a
With basics from primark but buys all new, into going to the gym and not a huge eater at home, he spends his child allowance all the things above including buying food out.

My youngest 14 yr old boy loves designer and named brands its all he wears but sells and buys on vinted or uses Birthday/Xmas money on all that, he likes good hair products which I get as gifts from where I work so get them at fraction of the cost. Eats lots more than his brother and at home so that costs more, he doesnt get his child allowance yet as use that for shoes/trainers, uniform and bus travel to school and his football club.

Stepdaughter 17 yrs. that has her own original style and buys from Charity shops or gets as gifts.

My other stepdaughter 14 yrs, is into emo rock so again mix from charity shops or emo shop, she cuts and colours her own hair

I am a hairdresser so cut the other 3's hair. The girls spend less on clothes than the boys but have skincare/makeup/sanitry costs that the boys dont. The boys like fragrances which they get as birthday presents from other family members.

I feel they all need the same amount of parenting in different ways and at different stages.

I find the boys are more forgiving but the girls stew in things and will hold a grudge.

No but I think a lot of people never bothered parenting their boys which is why there are so many very badly behaved men and that was obviously easier for them.

But no done right definitely not.

Also price wise for gifts my nephews are much more expensive than my nieces. They want games and football stuff which is so expensive whereas my nieces want crafts and such.

Bloody hell, that was extreme, you don’t think women rape and murder children?

She says girls cost more because they "need" all designer clothes and boys don't care what they look like. Also girls apparently have to have loads of toiletries, hair products etc when boys just need shower gel and that's it.

Absolute bollox.

I have both boys and girls. Your MiL is talking absolute rubbish.

Total nonsense!!

I have boys and I have girls. It makes no difference. My most expensive child is a son. Not for negative reasons but educational and health reasons.

I mean personally it’s cost more to bring up DS 18 because he bloody eats like a pack of elephants. I feel like boys need more parenting. Dd has always been more clued up than DS, he is autistic but he’s still very clever, he’s just needed more guidance. And given the state of the world I defo think boys need more parenting.

I’ve got three of each but only the oldest two are teens yet.

I could believe that teenage boys on average might cost less than teenage girls but I don’t think it would be by a big margin and it’s not been true of my kids overall. Younger kids are definitely about the same regardless of gender imo.

I totally disagree about taking less parenting. I would say all my kids need parenting slightly differently and they’re all easier and more difficult in different aspects but I put the same amount of effort into them all.

Haha no

.. coughing loudly into my coffee cup.
Oh my goodness, is this where some are going wrong?
id base more on an individual basis, but also never underestimate the power of what you do and what may seem not needing doing.
I would say boys need a lot more intervention that thought, from all types of personality just like girls.
And don’t get me started on boys hair cuts, that I thought would be cheaper than girls .. laughing! Barbers might be a little cheaper, but crikey it needs cutting very frequently so you basically get to know them very well!

I only have boys too but from people who I know with girls/both it’s not something I’ve observed or that I’ve heard them say

Genuinely the only cost difference I can think of is the pink tax, and bras (and possibly cosmetics depending on your kid) in the teen years.

Boys take at least as much parenting. It’s a damn sight harder to teach a boy not to uphold the patriarchy that directly benefits him than it is to teach the girl to see it and fight back against it.

Parenting, no.

However there does seem to be this acceptance (amongst some) that young girls should spend ££££ on skincare routines, have expensive handbags etc