Parents are having to dig deep to send their children to soccer practice, ballet class or piano lessons as the rising cost of living puts further strain on family budgets.<\/p>\n
Nationally, parents pay $3.8 billion a year for after-school activities, equating to $1859 a year per activity per child, according to Mozo research. Piano lessons average $1319 a year, while horse riding lessons add up to $3280 to the annual budget. In some instances, activities increase in cost over time as kids pick up new skills and move into extra classes.<\/p>\n
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Parents are having to dig deep to send their children to after-school activities like soccer practice.<\/span>Credit:<\/span>Wolter Peeters<\/cite><\/p>\n Sport is particularly popular outside of school. AusPlay data from 2021-22 shows 47 per cent of children aged 0-14 participate in organised out-of-school sport or physical activity at least once a week at a median cost of $572 per year.<\/p>\n But the data also shows a dip in participation rates, attributed to the increased popularity of video games and other sedentary activities, the rising cost of sports equipment and fees, and the lack of access to facilities in some areas.<\/p>\n Brisbane mother-of-two Carolyn Tate ferries her 12-year-old son to jujitsu classes and rugby league practice during the week, while her 10-year-old daughter attends dance class. Aside from the cost of weekly classes, she also pays for uniforms, dance outfits, competition fees and tickets.<\/p>\n \u201cThe costs in a year are around $5000, give or take a sequinned leotard or a pair of footy boots,\u201d Tate says, who splits the costs with her ex-husband.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s worth it. \u201cExtra-curricular activities and having a community outside of school fortifies kids, building their social circle and giving them an identity outside of school,\u201d Tate says.<\/p>\n However, her experience with her eldest child, now 18, tells her that the costs creep up over the years as children get more heavily involved in their hobbies.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m happy for them to do what they want. I figure it\u2019s way better than them sitting at home on their iPad or staring at the TV. If they\u2019re active and passionate about something and enjoying themselves, I\u2019m happy to fund it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Sarah, Matt, Harry, and Jack Hodges.<\/span><\/p>\n Sydney\u2019s Lindsay Cumming spends $7399 on extracurricular activities for her two children, aged three and six. She ferries them between ballet, jazz, tap, performance ballet, performance jazz, piano, swimming and soccer. She accesses government vouchers where possible to recoup her costs.<\/p>\n She admits it\u2019s expensive but says the additional classes give her children a well-rounded education and support for their passions.<\/p>\n Costs can quickly add up for families. It\u2019s not just the lessons, but uniforms, shoes and travel to events and performances that can be costly, according to Popi Sotiriadou, an Associate Professor of Sport Management at Griffith University.<\/p>\n She says anecdotal evidence suggests that the cost of sport is on the rise, which is likely to see a drop in enrolments.<\/p>\n \u201cFamilies are counting the pennies and it\u2019s going to be nearly impossible to prioritise sport against the backdrop of the rising cost of housing, groceries and everything else,\u201d Sotiriadou says, adding that digital tools that encourage family and friends to pitch in for sport and using government incentives such as the Active Kids vouchers in NSW can help bring the cost down.<\/p>\n Gold Coast mother Sarah Hodges forks out around $2000 yearly in after-school activities for her two boys, Harry, eight, and Jack, five. They play soccer and football and her eldest participates in club cycling. Experience tells her that progression in sports tends to cost more.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a significant amount of money. We\u2019re not talking about the kind of money that means we\u2019re just deciding not to go out for dinner this week. And you can\u2019t really pull them out of sports once they\u2019ve made that commitment,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the boys have so much energy when they get out of school, and we know that team sports are so good for them. We both feel that it\u2019s an incredibly important part of raising well-rounded young men.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n