IT COSTS almost £30,000 more to raise a daughter than a son.

As the mother of two daughters, I won’t argue with that.

Research by the price comparison website MoneySuperMarket found that the major difference in expenditure starts as toddlers, when girls cost nearly 37 per cent more than boys and, during childhood, female clothing can reach as much as £11,720, almost double the cost for sons.

At this age, mothers have to take some of the blame. I wasn’t as bad as some, who would not let their daughters out in anything but Boden, but girls’ clothing is irresistible. It is so gorgeous that mothers sometimes end up buying items even when our daughters do not need them.

I rarely shop for clothing for myself, but I used to regularly succumb to the lure of Monsoon or Adams, imagining the look on my daughters’ faces when they saw what I had bought. Drab in comparison, boys clothes don’t have the same rail appeal. Boys don’t stare longingly at T-shirts or jumpers or nag their mothers to buy them the latest designer shoes.

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Costs certainly rack up as children grow. My daughters had weekly ballet lessons - their decision not mine - and both played musical instruments, something I never did. Paying for lessons certainly cut into our budget. Research shows girls are far more likely than boys to continue playing instruments in secondary school.

Parents of girls tend to avoid the cost of Playstations and computer games but are swamped by the constant drip, drip of a girl’s shopping list.

Clothes and make-up weigh most heavily on parents’ wallets.

There is so much pressure on girls to look good that a stockpile of decent clothes and make-up is paramount. While teenage boys spend nearly £7,800 on technological items, girls rack up £13,800 on toiletries. Luckily, having part-time jobs, my daughters bought the bulk of their clothing and make-up.

But parties cost us a pretty penny. For years, at least a dozen children were catered, bouncy castles hired and sleepovers (which girls favour) arranged. Later, it was spa sessions and restaurants. Three prom dresses each, for functions at 11, 16 and 18 - surely one prom in year 11 would suffice. Boys shell out far less for their standard black tie attire.

Our bank account took a hammering with driving lessons, but boys are as likely to have this expenditure.

The research compared costs up to 18, reaching a staggering £79,176 to raise a boy and a whopping £108,884 for a girl, a difference of £29,708.

The study should have gone further. With two daughters at university, costs are racking up to the extent that a second mortgage may be called for.

Student loans don’t go very far, and we are regularly called upon to help with this and that. It is not easy, and we don’t contribute much, but we do the best we can on a limited budget. I would imagine the same applies to parents of boys and costs are pretty even at this stage, although my daughters still regularly splash out on clothes and make-up.

Of course, the outlay does not stop there - with the rising cost of houses it not uncommon for parents to sell their home to help their offspring on to the property ladder.

I hope we will never have to go this far.