Family Action the UK charity providing services to disadvanted and socially isolated familes, has reported that the cheapest a family with two children can have an 'acceptable' Christmas is £182.
The minimum described as an acceptable Christmas involved a nice meal with the extended family, a decorated house, and the exchanging of a few cheap gifts:
Food and drink - £34.25
Gifts - £113.43
Decorations - £28
Cards - £6.32
Most UK families will spend between £530 and £682 on gifts, decorations, food and drink this Christmas, but the poorer families revealed that they would be spending lesss than £200.
Many of the families questioned feel pressure to buy gifts for their children that were far more than they afford.
The majority of parents however, plan to buy their children essential clothing as Christmas presents.
The report says: "A Cut-Price Christmas highlights the challenge of being a parent on a low income: not wanting to crush your kid's sense of fun but not being able to escape the reality of up-to-the wire budgeting and debt."
