Six years in a care home can cost more than raising a child: Typical bill of £230,000 means one in three over 55s are resigned to selling their home to pay the bill

The price of a parent’s care home place can cost more than bringing up a child, families were warned yesterday.

Raising a son or daughter to the age of 21 and putting them through school and university typically costs just over £230,000, a report said.

But the same amount would buy just six years’ residency in a care home for an elderly and vulnerable parent.

The report said that almost a third of adults over 55 have no idea how they would pay bills on that scale, and that nearly one in five are resigned to selling their homes to pay fees.

It comes at a time of continued uncertainty following the failure of Theresa May’s election campaign.

She planned to make those with assets of more than £100,000 liable for paying all bills – which jarred with those who preferred the £72,000 care costs cap put forward by David Cameron but never implemented.

Until new policies are produced it remains the case that anyone with savings and property in England will have to pay for their own place until their assets are reduced to £23,250. Many are forced to sell their homes to meet the costs.

Yesterday’s report put the average price of a place in an English care home at £694 a week – a level broadly in line with other estimates, although prices are higher in the South of England than in the North. It said that if a family had to pay for a place for ten years, the cost would be around £360,000.

Tom Lyon, of uSwitch, said families who do not have their affairs in order and are unable to access Government support could be facing a future of crippling debt

But, it said, a poll found that an average person put the likely bill at £283,000.

On an annual basis, the report said, the real cost of a place is £36,088 but typically people believe it is £28,358.

Meanwhile the estimated average cost of bringing up a child is just under £232,000, including the price of a university education. In practice, the insurance industry calculates that a typical stay in a care home lasts just two-and-a-half years – and that bills are likely to amount to between £50,000 and £90,000. But that sum is still a quarter of the value of an average home.

The poll of 2,006 people, carried out for price comparison site uSwitch, found that three quarters – 76 per cent – of younger people expect their parents to meet their own care home bills, while some 19 per cent expect to have to sell their houses to pay for care.

Some 30 per cent do not know how they would cover the fees.

Tom Lyon, of uSwitch, said: ‘These findings show how unprepared we are when it comes to funding the care for our elderly parents. It is a sobering thought that it could now cost more to look after an elderly parent than to raise a child, adding extra pressure on families when household budgets are already squeezed.

‘Families who do not have their affairs in order and are unable to access Government support could be facing a future of crippling debt.’

Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said: ‘Not many of us can afford to save enough from our wages or salary to cover the cost of a risk that may never materialise.’ She added: ‘This Government must urgently create a fair and sustainable system ... so that we can all face the future with confidence.’

SOURCE: MailOnline, Steve Doughty