Will the cuts affect your family size?

[highlystrung]

We have three children and tbh I'd always hankered after having four - being from a family of four kids myself. But since the cuts, and more specifically, the university funding changes, I think we'll be sticking at three. We've already lost our tax credits and the child benefit will go - but the real killer for us is the prospect of having to fork out £100k or thereabouts for each of them to go to Uni. Could always stop them doing their homework so they flunk their GCSEs and save us a fortune I spose, but failing that it looks like we're in an American situation where we have to start saving in to a college fund for each of them. Panicking really - what with trying to pay the mortgage and paying in to a pension, but part of me also thinks that it is fair enough that people should consider if they can afford their kids before they have them. Anyone else letting the changes determine how many kids they have?

Really surprised that this is an issue. We considered day to day finances when planning our family, but not University places. If you can afford to fund any child's place you are very lucky - many will have to pay themselves via a student loan: ours will, if they choose to follow that path.

Im sticking with one, ds makes me sooo happy anyway I dont see the point in stretching our already tight budget to have another.

I was already set on one before ds though so dont feel like I really want another but If I did the cuts would make me change my mind, I want to be able to help ds out in the future and I dont think we could do that if we had more :)

Flyingzebra, I dont think its a middle class dilema - surely responsible people plan their finances before having a child regardless of "class".

Neither DH or I are higher rate tax payers but we still considered if we could afford a child before having one as we dont expect anybody bar ourselves to support our family.

Helping with uni costs isnt always income related either, some parents go without to assist with costs, others may have the income to assist but dont as they believe their children should make their own way in life.

No. We'd already decided DS, our third, would be our last well before the election and DH had the snip.

it does sound a middle class thing

i suppose you could say im working class and cant say its a topic that comes up to much,why do so many think there children will go to uni,would you been upset if they didnt,would they feel they had to as its expected

i have a couple of low paid friends who's children are at uni and im talking parents income is £17k and they manage,the student has to contribute in some way ny working partime,i think this is a good thing

are you really going to fund everything for them

Finances have influenced our choices. If we have a third (and there are many twins in my family so that could be third AND fourth) we would probably need to move house, or to build an extension and have a tiny garden. Buy a new car and more expensive subsequent cars. General upbringing and other costs. We are both teachers so salaries are average - although I haven't worked for 3 years. We have investments and savings to send them to a fee paying secondary school if we see fit (our local secondary is very rough - but it might improve). Yes, I would admit that all the recent cuts have reinforced our decision not to have anymore kids. But if I'd win the lottery I d probably have a larger family. We would help them through Uni but they would also have to take on a loan.

ps the house next door houses 5 uni students,to my knowledge none work partime and drive nice cars,we did see a few of the parents move the kids in

i think two of the parents cars were worth more than the 5 bed house they were going to be living in

Why would you pay their fees for them instead of letting them pay the graduate tax take out a loan?

Maybe they wont all want to go (or get in).

Uni fees are no reason not to have another.

Cuts r hard we hv 2 not hvng anymore

I've had three graduate in the last three years and two more to come (under th enew regime). Private day school fees are abour £10k a year so if you're affording that then 3 - 5 more years is not that bad at the same level (plus a bit more for living costs) IF the parent chooses to pay. Loads of my children's friends even from very rich families don't pay because they think children appreciate their degree more if they have to borrow to get it. It's a valid standpoint although not mine.

The £10k a year schools fees is also (if you have 2 or 3 children) similar to the cost of chlid care = nanny etc when they start school so realy it's a loss of about £20k - £30k a year for when they are babies- either in lost incoe or cost of childcare ntilthey graduate. If you have got used to it when they are babies and then paying school fees fro age 4 or 5 you can also afford it when they are 18 IF you choose to help them - ther eis no obligation in ENgland (there is in Scotland) to support adult children except where the parents are divorced.

Frankly, it's probably good for the country if family sizes go down. Our birth rate is higher than it has been for some years and we are desperately short of houses in the SE, where most people live.

No, I'd still like no.2. You never know what is around the corner for your family or the country.

A university education is not a given route to success. I see lots of people with degrees who haven't got an ounce of common sense. Both DP and I went to university, I had a full grant yet wish now I'd tried different jobs, explored what I was good at rather then try and use my degree, and travelled more.

We've already decided that we won't pay all of it. We both had student loans and think it's right they should appreciate the cost of what they're doing and help contribute = might encourage them to work harder. Certainly don't 'expect' all my kids to go to uni - think it's a waste of time quite frankly if you're going to a crap uni to do golf studies or whatever - just wouldn't want them to end up owing tens of thousands at such a young age. When I was at uni (quite a while ago!!) we had grants, a loan, free tuition and even travel grants from the uni (Oxford) to go on holiday - different world - and I still came out owing £5k, which took me years to pay off. Can't imagine what it'll be like for them.

Yes - I'm currently decided which DS to get rid of

I would still like a third child, but won't be having them at the moment, until finances/jobs are more stable. We would have to move to make room for another dc (have 2 dc's) We are not in a position to afford moving. I am hoping that I will not lose my chance to have another child before it is too late physically.

Am I missing something, but aren't students supposed to pay off their loans out of thir own earnings?
Paying their uni fees sounds very East European where parents are expected to help children till they are 40. Many buy them flats and cars, etc. If that's what you are planning to do, then yes, stick to 3.

School fees - totally diofferent matter. If sending kids to a public school is so important, then yes, consider how many you are going to have.

from my point of view would rather my sons took on a trade eg plumber,electrician,with decent training can be a very good move

a friend made a very good buisness starting as a plumber,then decided he wanted more of a complete service so learnt tiling and electrics thus does whole bathrooms with little trade help and very good ££££

it has taken him a good few years to gain qualifications and alot of support from his partner but has really paid of now,and this was years a go a lad that education and society on the whole had washed their hands of

so pleased for him,hes worked so hard and deserves it

sorry im going of topic,just dont understand why alot of peeps invisage their DC's will go to uni

I went to university, as did DP. We both had a blast gained a great deal from the experience; maybe not financially (I don't think it did our careers any real favours) but in other ways.

I don't assume ds will want or be able to go to university, but I hope he will.

No, family is complete...although I could try ditching a couple of them to make things more bearable when the cuts start to bite

Hadn't really thought about them going to uni (too far away really), other than them self funding. I worked for a few years and paid my own way through uni (admittedly only living expenses as fees were paid) and I will be encouraging my kids to do the same.

It isn't so much people are envisaging their kids going (though I do,purely because DH and I did,all of our social circle did etc so it is considered the norm) as much as people want to feel secure if they all do want to go. Couldn't care less what dd decides (she's only a few months so a way to go yet!) as long as it is a well thought out decision and she has every opportunity. If she doesn't want to go that's fine.

I was responsible for my own fees. So I applied for a scholarship, and to everyone's surprise I got it. My parents relief was tangible. But seriously, if we do move towards to a more American system re university fees, we may find more unis offering scholarships to attract certain types of candidate (sporty etc.) and this does produce driven teens in a lot of cases. I see this as a good thing. I also had to do a very expensive postgrad qualification which I did not receive sponsorship for. The standard of teaching was a million miles from my undergrad, and I can't help thinking that it had to be because we were all paying personally for it! I really think that the standard of student and course will rise when this becomes a 'value' issue.

OP, I wouldn't limit my family based on whether I could support them post-18, no. However if the cuts affect you raising them pre-18, I might. But before I did that, I would see what else we could do without / prioritise differently. I hear people regretting limiting their families regularly in their 50s, but no-one ever wishes their child hadn't been born because they couldn't afford to give them more money.

highlystrung I have another thread on here about uni fees/funding your kids through uni plus house plus car and it's got some really interesting replies! Like you we have 3 kids who will want to go to Uni (all 3 say so, all 3 want careers at present that require degree, all 3 getting good grades so far). But I would be happy if they wanted to go down a different route of training for a career so long as the cost of Uni wasn't the deciding factor. We are far from well off and struggle now (see my thread, to long for here). We have 3 kids and I would have loved more but couldn't, lost 2 others. It must make people think twice surely?

The cuts have made me think about my family planning, although not necessarily in terms of not having any more children. I'm a lone parent with one dc who may well go to university.

We would get all the extra funding aimed at low-income families as I only work very p/t hours. But I've met a new partner and if we moved in together, the whole household income would be assessed together including new DP's salary. So it would make sense for us not to live together and that's the plan for the time being.

I won't discourage my child not to go to university just because of the fees increase, it's a lot of debt but to be honest I'm unlikely to ever pay back my own university debts because I work p/t. I don't even think about the total amount owed most of the time.

I'm wondering which one of the four I should send back tbh.
We only had them for the benefits it's all very disappointing.