Industry News
Private education 'a sign of wealth'
Posted on 29th January 2008
Highly-paid workers believe they need to be able to afford to send their children to a private school before they can consider themselves well off, according to the findings of a new survey.
A study by the insurer Hiscox suggested that 2.5 million households in the UK could be regarded as wealthy, as they have around three times the average household income and approximately £20,000 of disposable income every year.
However, researchers discovered that 90 per cent of them do not consider themselves to be rich and have defined targets about what actually constitutes a well off household.
These include an annual household income of £150,000, to have paid off the mortgage, owning a second home and having their children privately educated.
Earlier research by Halifax suggested families need to have plenty of money in order to send their children to an independent school, as average annual school fees for a day pupil have risen by 41 per cent to £9,627 in the past five years.
However, the Independent Schools Council estimates that almost a third of pupils receive assistance with fees.