Paying for independent school fees is delaying retirement for more than six out of 10 (61%) parents with privately educated children.
For almost half (49%) of parents the delay to their retirement date is five years or less but for some (4%) the cost of paying school fees means they will never be able to stop working completely.
Parents are making financial and lifestyle sacrifices to pay the fees for their kids’ educations, according to finance firm Premium Credit.
Its research found that around 25% of parents say they take fewer and cheaper holidays while 28% say they eat out less and 29% work extra hours. Around one in five (17%) have gone into debt.
The introduction of VAT on school fees in January last year has intensified the pressure with 17% saying they have taken on extra work or second jobs as a result while 15% have consulted financial advisers about selling investments.
It is also leading to tougher decisions about keeping children at independent schools with some parents saying they will consider taking some but not all of their children out of independent schools.
The research found 12% of parents plan to take children out of independent schools with a further 27% thinking about doing so.
However nearly half of them (47%) say at least one child will continue at independent schools with GCSEs and A-levels the main reason for doing so. Around two-thirds (66%) planning to keep one child at independent schools said GCSEs and A-levels were the main reason.
Stewart Ward, director education sector & head of school fee plan, Premium Credit said: “Parents are clearly willing to make financial and lifestyle sacrifices in order to pay independent school fees as demonstrated by the impact on retirement plans.
“The impact of the VAT introduced last year is further concentrating minds and highlighting the need for ways to improve cashflow and budgeting such as switching to smaller, more convenient payments.”
Premium Credit provides insurance premium finance and a range of annually charged services, including tax, regulatory and accountancy fees, sports season tickets, memberships and school fees in the UK and Ireland. Its school fees plan serves 400 schools nationwide.
• Premium Credit commissioned market research company Pureprofile to conduct research among 1,000 parents with children under the age of 18 including 441 with children at independent schools between 3 March and 11 March.