‘MUM AND DAD CABS’ CLOCK UP £32 BILLION OF UNPAID FARES A YEAR

‘MUM AND DAD CABS’ CLOCK UP £32 BILLION OF UNPAID FARES A YEAR!

• Parents drive 230 million miles a week taking their children to social, sporting and recreational events, the equivalent distance of a journey from Earth to Mars
• Dads bear the brunt of parental taxi duties, clocking up 28 miles a week compared to 21 for mums(3)
• London parents have the highest parental taxi value on average at £103 a week
• New Facebook page lets mums and dads find out their own taxi value to their children: 

Mums and dads in Britain provide over £32 billion worth of free taxi services to their children every year, according to new research from Sainsbury’s Finance.  Parents collectively clock up over 230 million miles a week, the equivalent distance of driving from Earth to Mars at their furthest points apart, transporting their children to social, sporting and recreational events outside of school.  If charged at hackney carriage rates this would total over £621 million every week.

The study shows that over 9.3 million parents spend time driving their children around, covering an average of 24.7 miles a week worth £46.17. On top of this, parents spend an average of around one hour 14 minutes sitting in their cars waiting around for their children.

Additional findings: 

• 30% of parents say taxi duties provide one of the few opportunities to talk to their children without them being distracted by gadgets like TV or mobile phones
• Parents in London have the highest average taxi value to their children, providing over £103 of taxi services to their offspring
• Parents in Scotland are worth around £73 a week to their children in taxi value