To be highly irritated about the Twin thread - school trip fees

[DietDisaster]

I can't understand how people think that having two children close together has a similar financial impact as having twins (or higher multiples) .

As a mum of dearly loved DTs, this makes me annoyed because parents of twins have to buy two lots of baby equipment (double pram, two cots, highchairs, nappies!!) at the same time and as they grow nothing can be passed down. Also have to pay two lots of childcare/nursery fees, when they want to do activities they can only do them if you can afford to pay twice (mine have to do exactly the same things as I'm not having either of them miss out). When they start school, two lots of uniform, coats, shoes not to mention trips, then there's beds, larger car, university fees etc, etc.

At least parents who have kids close together can reuse a lot of stuff and anyway, it is their CHOICE to have them close together, you have no choice over whether you have twins and I don't believe that anyone who decides to get pregnant thinks 'oh, better wait until I'm sure I can afford 2 in case I have twins'. People who have children close together can plan to space out their children if they can't afford it.

Therefore, I think schools should help out parents of twins, triplets etc and they should not have to pay the same as singletons!!

1. Twins are more expensive, initially that 2 singletons.

1. Financial help should be given according to need. Rich people sometimes have triplets and poor people sometimes only have one.

1. To all those who disagree with me, I hope you have unplanned pregnancies which turn out to be quads - no, really, I do.

Idobelieveinfairies - that is exactly my point.

"Please don't assume people who have twins are rich we fill the same demographic as singelton parents".......

Equally then don't assume they all have financial difficulties either.

There are 2.5 years between my dcs but ds1 has sn and was still using alot of the baby equipment when ds2 was born so I had to buy extras of a lot of things. I had to buy a double buggy having already bought a single one for ds1 so that is an extra expense that a parent of twins wouldn't have. I had to buy two car seats etc. As far as clothes are concerned when I had ds1 I was given enough clothes to dress ten babies nevermind two!!! Yes parents of twins might have a slightly higher initial outlay but parents of singletons have to pay out for longer.

Lets face it no one ever got rich having kids!! If you are not prepared to make the financial sacrifices then don't have them.
No pregnancy comes with guarantees ...I didn't expect to have a son with sn who I am still supporting in his 20s. I dare say he's cost me more than a nt child but it's not something I have ever really thought about.

Actually, parents of twins probably are richer.

If you consider the fact that half of all twins are born as a result of very expensive IVF treatment which few people can afford then they must have more money in the first place.

Oh shit, I've just lost my own argument

Not just unplanned pregnancy: ds1 almost killed me so I was advised to have next one soon (13 month age gap)-as it happened the risk failed to materialise but thats just extemely good luck.

And now both boys are in the same size clothes, no passing down.

Agree financial help should be for thsoe who need it: I am unable to work (carer) but don't get any help with paying my fees for school events but have to find two of everything also (school does things in 2-year groups), I do find that hard and have whinnged once or twice on here at the expense. However in relaity I just know I am lucky to have been abe to give ds1 siblings. Three of them, in the end.

Incidentally the age gap further along was bigger- 3 years between ds2 and ds3, then 4.5 years: yes the difference in terms of reusaiblity etc was humungous but also lots of things ahd worn out /; become outdated (car seats etc) so no good reusing anyway.

LOL My baby is more expensive than your baby nerner

FWIW All children cost, and imo taking everything into account twins v non twins probably works out around the same in the end.

Schools cost trips based on singletons for the reason that if they costed trips based on everyone having twins, they'd be mental.

Riven, the school can't force parents to pay - they can't discriminate. Your boys should be able to go on trips - can you investigate it with the school?

My dcs have rarely gone on any residential school trips and none outside this country. Dd(yr7) came home last term with a letter about a trip to France. They leave on Friday am and return on Monday pm at the cost of £375 including travel, bed, breakfast and evening meal but not lunch or any admission fees etc. They recommend we send £75 in addition to the cost of the trip. Our family of 5 went camping in Brittany last Summer for not much more than that! Dd will not be going. We couldn't afford it before Christmas and as dh returned to work after Christmas to learn they had called in the administrators we certainly can't afford it now.

You don't hunker.....the more children the bigger the car

At Dc school there is one year 6 france trip to go on. They do a scheme where you pay for it the year before....£30 a month so it is all paid for in advance.

As i have 2 sets of twins i will be paying for their trips one year after another-starting to pay a year before i actually need too.

I would have to say......i have children 15mths apart and twins....and twins are more expensive

In my health authority you get a free IVF cycle so 'poor' people also have the chance to have IVF as well as all of the rich would be twin parents.

I don't have two children close together in age so can't comment on if it would be more or less expensive. I do have twins though and they are bloody expensive.

school trips cost what they cost because that's what they cost - the schools aren't making a profit from them. Cost of Trip divided by number of pupils. Minus any subsidy born by the school.

it costs just as much to send a twin on a trip as it does to send a singleton. why should the singleton pay more? what an odd suggestion. you have no idea whether parents of singletons have more or less money than you so you really aren't in any position to make comments like this. None of us are. it has nothing to do with how much they cost and everything to do with disposable income.

i think advocateofthedevil made the most apposite and relevant point so far

all children should get the assistance if it is required, rather than it being to do with being a multiple

i think it is unreasonable to make assumptions about any other parents financial business, especually at the moemnt, where businesses are closing daily, long established chains are closing and people are losing jobs

approach the school and ask for help/discount if you can;t afford it

all trips at DCs school ask for a voluntary contribution except for one residential trip in year 5 for which you get over one years notice to pay in installments if needed

I don't see why having twins (even if I accepted that they are 'more expensive' than any old two children - as far as working women go having multiples or your children very close together works out far less expensive in the long run because of the fewer career breaks) entitles you to be subsidised by the parents of singletons.

what a daft thread! So many different variations depending on family it's hard to say what's more expensive.

What if the twins are not the firstborn? If I had twins now I wouldn't need 2 sets of anything because I have 4 children and as the youngest 2 are 13mths apart I have 2 of everything!

So for me twins wouldnt be more expensive that 2 singles. In fact, as I amplanningon returning to work when all are at school a set of twin may be cheaper because they go to school same time so lesstime at home with reduced income.

Struggling to see why it really matters though!!!!

Nametaken I found your post very upsetting.

We had 7 years of very expensive treatment of which we had to pay every penny.

We had to sell our lovely flat to pay for said treatment (at completely the wrong time), I had to give up my job as couldn't keep having time off, dp gave up his well paid job and became a student so we could be nearer a good clinic.

Financially IVF has crippled us,we couldn't afford to buy our flat now. My career is ruined. All 5 of us are squashed into a tiny house(it's ours so I know we are lucky).

I post on a fertility board on which many if not most IVF mums are still paying off crippling IVF bills as well as raising children many of which are multiples.

Having said that like most IVF mums there isn't a day goes buy that I don't feel as if I've won the lottery and I will always feel eternally grateful.

I also had to pay cripling IVF bills MilaMae, that's how I know how expensive they are

Plus, with IVF it's the same as everything else, either you can afford it or you can't.

Then you should know IVF/twin parents aren't richer.