AIBU to ask why we automatically expect to pay less for kids?

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

I know it sounds a strange thing to ask, as it's so ingrained and accepted, but organising an event with friends who have kids of varying ages just made me stop and genuinely ponder this.

I'm not talking about babies in arms, who don't take up a seat and will just scream/poo/feed/sleep etc and derive no pleasure from being there, or events that are primarily intended for adults, but the kids end up being brought along too, for usual parental looking-after purposes.

I'm thinking of events that all the family will enjoy in equal measure - or, more likely, as with most things billed as 'family fun', where the kids will have the time of their lives whilst the adults either sit at the side and spectate or grimace and join in with significantly less than aplomb when implored to by their excited offspring. Same with kids' shows at the theatre - adults pay full price for accompanying their children in a purely supervisory role whilst the kids who will actually enjoy the show automatically get discounted kids' tickets, just for being kids!

Obviously, you say, it's because kids don't earn any money themselves. But if that's the reason, then how can we justify charging them anything at all? And why do so many places charge a kids' admission fee up until, say, age 12 or 14, and then suddenly adult price, when your average 12-14-year-old isn't really likely to be earning any more than an 11-year-old? Obviously, the parents will be paying for everybody anyway, so why the arbitrary differential? I totally get the idea of family tickets - especially for parents with a number of children - as that's just a standard 'bulk buy' discount and most groups will be made up of families. But when you're paying for each person on an individual basis, I can't fully rationalise the reasoning for this in my own head.

As a parent, I'm in no way complaining about not having to pay full whack for our DS - or am I actually complaining about us having to pay more ourselves for accompanying him, when the sole reason that we're attending is because he's too young to be sent along on his own?!

Has this thought ever occurred to anybody else or am I just very weird? Fully prepared to be told that I am.

Well children don't earn do they? I don't see anything wrong in giving parents who have to pay for their children an 'ease'. It seems mean to even ponder it. You can always offer to pay full price for your children and not worry about others' children going half-price.

Supply and demand.

Kids don't get discounted tickets. That's the genuine price. It's the adults that get ripped off.

A few years ago I took DD to see the Lego movie. I think I was the only adult there. Their pricing model was clearly set on the kid's price, not the adult one.
Actually, they should have paid me to sit through it!

It's probably a token gesture for places that are child-orientated. I expect the adult prices are hiked up to compensate for cheaper child rates. Nobody's doing us a favour, that's for sure

Or what @Disquieted1 said. That makes sense too

Because it's easier to appeal to children for fun filled family events. A child will tell their friends who will nag there parents. It's all a marketing ploy.

It is confusing though isn't it when a discount for children is advertised and nowhere dies it say at what age that means.
We are going on holiday next week and as a treat and due to a very early start I looked at airport lounge prices,at age 12 they are adults and adult prices are charged but if you go up a grade children are not allowed and your adult priced children are suddenly not adults.
But for simpler things adult charges are applied from 10,12,15etc.my DD now as a teen fits into child and student discount for some things.

There's usually 1-2 adults so it's a guaranteed way if having the higher price paid. Some adults will go alone so it makes more sense to give them the higher price, whereas children won't be going alone so they're the better option to discount.
Its probably the same theory as group or family discount prices, when a larger group is going the cumulative prices may be too high and discourage customers.

Discounting children means that each financially independent adult will pay higher prices, but won't be discouraged from going by having to pay a such a large amount overall.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll
So you want to pay full price for kids who don’t have an income

WRT teenagers not getting discounted, that's the age most families will be better off financially as theres no longer the need for childcare costs or a SAHP.

not cake emoji!!

Some places charge more for children than adults, I think Wickstead Park do if I remember right. I guess it is a group discount of sorts when an adult is expected to attend with the child/ten, not sure why for things that children are allowed to without adults though.

No, I fully realise that it's the parents who will be footing the whole bill and, as I said, that children don't earn (although it seems that, once they hit 12, they're magically expected to).

I'm not necessarily suggesting that any family should be asked to pay a penny more or less than they already are, but it's the 'nesting' of the charging that baffles me more than anything else. As I mentioned in my OP, I'm not just asking why kids get a discount, but also why adults in a solely accompanying roles should have to pay more.

If a parent takes their LO to see Mrs Wiggly Hedgehog and Her Groovy Fun-Time Party Sing-a-long, why shouldn't the theatre charge (for argument's sake) £10 for the child and £5 for the accompanying parent rather than the other way around? Obviously, the dynamic changes as the number of children and/or adults increases. However, using this example, is it fair that an adult accompanying 5 children (maybe friends/families' kids as well as their own) would pay £35 to occupy 6 seats for 5 actual target viewers/participants whereas three parent-and-child combos would between them have to pay £45 for the same 6 seats but for only 3 actual interested participants?

For younger dc (who need to have their 'adult' there) then it wouldn't matter which way they market it - they need (or want) a certain amount for the family to come.
Say that is £20(or £200 or £2000 - the principle is the same) it doesn't matter if it is £8 per adult and £2 per child / £5 each / or £8 per child and £2 per adult - the company get the same.

Once they get to older teens, if it is something like the pictures, then it needs to be discounted, as dc don't have much money but if it is a holiday / airplane seat then they take up same space and eat more than most adults so it is right they are charged as adults.

That was my attempt at responding to MistressDeeCee's thoughts, by the way.

Thank you all for your thoughts and comments - glad I'm not the only one irrationally puzzled by this!

....or at least, if not 'puzzled', interested in considering the issue.

I've often pondered this whilst sitting through a shite film at the cinema. They ought to pay me to sit through some of that! I understand all the reasons why they charge adults full price at kids films but it's usually adding insult to injury.

And soft plays that charge adults entry ffs. Not only are we paying for the children but we're buying bucketloads of coffee to get us through the experience.

OP,

Because some families have multiple children. So if children are £10 a seat and an adult is £5 and an adult has 3 children it would be expensive for a day at the cinema or whatever. Whereas if an adult is £10 they can take lots of children and it reduces the cost.

I was with you actually until you said this

Obviously, the dynamic changes as the number of children and/or adults increases.

Now I think you've answered your own question. It's much more likely for a large group of kids to be taken somewhere like this, with the bare minimum of patiently suffering adults. If it cost £10 a head to see Mrs Wiggly at the theatre, it's pretty unlikely that most people would bother going for a party or a kid + friends day out. Even if you just had a bigger family (3 or 4 kids) it'd make any child oriented event completely unaffordable. I think they'd lose customers pretty quickly with that model. And I imagine that sitting there as an adult in your £5 discounted seat would be of little comfort if you've shelled out £50 on top of that for the 5 hyper excited birthday party attendees.

I wonder if it's because you can leave 1 (relieved) parent out without having to give up on the experience, but if you have more than one kid, you'd probably not go at all if you can't afford to pay for both.

It does perplex me how one becomes an adult at 12. Or at 1.4 metres in certain restaurants.

So it seems we're in agreement that it's ultimately down to marketing and companies' bottom lines, then, and not a thoughtful gesture at all(!). Quelle surprise.

I'm absolutely not suggesting that a greater financial burden be put on families with more children, but I think there's much more scope for transparency in pricing.

The soft-play example given above is an excellent one. Not all of these places charge for parents, but the fact that some do is pretty poor - especially when your payment represents a contribution for time using facilities that don't deplete, however many people use them (other than cleaning and occasional maintenance), rather than where you're consuming food or goods where there is a clear direct cost involved per person.

I sort of understand it, in terms of some things like an all you can eat restaurant charging teens/preteens adult prices, they are likely to just eat as much. I can also understand the cinema and similar, children are discounted at a young age so that it is cheaper for accompanying adults in a roundabout way, but at 12+ children can go without adult supervision, so surely it's the adults who choose to go along too or not.
I quite like these Sunday morning kids cinema shows where you get a free adult with each child ticket.
What baffles me is the places that are purely child centred (children's mini-theme parks, child museums etc) where the price for an adult and a child is the same.

I also agree it is better for cheaper child rates so larger families can better afford it, especially single parents etc.

Kidzania charges a lot more for children than adults (but the adult prices are still extortionate and the experience is hellish! I'd rather go to the dentist for the whole afternoon.)