Australian parents are spending over one billion hours and more than $2 billion to ensure their children stay committed to sports, new research has found.
Published by direct firm Real Insurance, the
Real Australian Active Kids Report, has revealed the true price parents of school age children pay for their child’s sporting passion.
The report found that more than three in four parents think it is very expensive to pay for their children’s sporting pastime with close to two in three parents admitting to making financial sacrifices to keep their children involved.
The average family spends $2,180 per year on children’s sport, totalling $2.15 billion nationwide, but 88% of parents are happy to make the commitment.
“Whether their children become the sporting hero of a generation or play for fun, Aussie parents will never feel that their sacrifices were made in vain,” the report notes. “Instead, it is evident through the research that parents are willing to make the time and effort because of the enjoyment that participating in sports brings their children.”
Each week, parents with children involved in sport spend an average of 5.6 hours driving to and from games and training, and a similar time attending games and training - 5.1 hours per week are spent “actively involved” in sporting activities.
“Parents spend a staggering 418 million hours each year waiting on the sidelines of sporting games and practices, which is an average of 295 hours per year, per family,” the report continues. “Regardless of this time, the research shows that the vast majority of parents (85.6%) acknowledge that sporting activities are an important part of their children’s lives, with nine in 10 parents (91.6%) agreeing that they have fun being on the sideline.”
When it comes to the thorny issue of competition in children’s sport, 61% of parents agree that everyone is a bit too obsessed with school age sport with 66% noting the pressure on children to participate.
The bane of many a parent’s life when it comes to school sports is being roped in to do the dreaded kit wash with the report noting that 3.5 million loads of washing are done each year to keep those cricket whites white.
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