Cost of raising a child rises to £227,000

The annual Cost of a Child report, funded by insurer LV=, said rising childcare costs were the biggest contributor, due to a 4pc increase to £66,113.

Children are at their most expensive at ages one to four costing £59,957, which is mainly due to nursery fees.

The cost of raising children has risen on the political agenda. Last month, Labour said it would bring in new proposals to help working parents, signalling that it would be the next battleground in leader Ed Miliband's cost of living campaign.

The party is understood to be examining whether it can fund “a big offer” on childcare in its manifesto for the 2015 general election.

Middle class families have been hit by the loss of child benefit payments, which were partly withdrawn from households with one earner on more than £50,000 and lost entirely to those on more than £60,000.

Around 1.1m families lost entitlement last January but 350,000 have continued to receive payments and are required to pay a "high income child benefit charge" - a repayment of the money via HMRC's self-assessment process. The deadline is next week but will be missed by an estimated 105,000 parents who have failed to register in time [read the full story].

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