The cost of bringing up a child is rising faster than property prices and is almost as expensive as buying a house outright, according to a survey.

Parents should expect to spend around £180,137 on their child from birth until the age of 21 with education and childcare costs responsible for a 9 per cent jump since last year. The total is just below the average house price of £184,593. The introduction of university tuition fees in September is largely to blame, with around a third of parents willing to foot the entire bill for three years of higher education.

Sending a child to university costs an average of £12,153 a year once maintenance is included, making the years between 19 and 21 the most expensive of a child’s life.

The second most expensive time is at primary school. With more mothers now at work, childcare has become a big item on the household bill. The survey estimates that parents spent an average of £9,468 on each child between the ages of 6 and 11 to cover the cost of childcare, uniforms, after-school clubs, trips, sport and other hobbies.

The survey assumes children attend a state school. Fees for a private education would add a further £71,050 for a day school and £130,450 for boarding.

The findings come from the fourth Cost of a Child survey from London Victoria Friendly Society and are based on an ICM poll carried out last month.

It found about 61 per cent of households need both parents to work to cover the cost of bring up their family. Just under half say that they are concerned how little time they spend with their children because of work.

The cost of childcare means half of all parents rely on grandparents to help out on the school run or looking after their children when they are off sick. Twelve per cent say they depend on regular financial support from the rest of the family to help them make ends meet.

Most parents admit they have had to make considerable sacrifices to meet the costs of bringing up their brood.

More than two thirds have stopped saving and 61 per cent have abandoned or cut back on foreign holidays. Career changes have also had to be put on hold with 42 per cent saying they have been forced to stay in their job to pay the bills.

Other items include pocket money (£5,518) and £9,232 on babysitters.

The survey found Wales the cheapest place to raise a child, at £172,632, and inner London the most expensive, at £193,562. According to the Halifax, the average house price is now £184,593.

“While there is substantial cost and responsibility attached to raising children, we mustn’t forget the huge joy and happiness a child brings to parents,” said Mary MacLeod, chief executive of the National Family and Parenting Institute.

She said that while the survey reflected average costs of raising children, it did not show that for poorer parents this was a much larger proportion of their income than more affluent parents.

“Raising a child is a responsibility to be shared between parents and the state and so it is right that the state should share the financial burden with parents.”

Help from the Government is limited to child benefit, the only payment which goes to all families. That is worth £16,333 over the course of a child’s life. There are means-tested tax credits for lower paid families. Campaigners say it is not enough. David Cameron, the Conservative leader, agrees and has suggested introducing tax breaks to cover the cost of childcare for all families, and transferrable tax credits to subsidise mothers who want to stay at home.

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