Rise of the One-Child Family

According to most places, we are not a family, as there are only 3 of us!  Even though recent research shows that nearly half of families are one-child affairs.

I always feel snubbed, I may be hypersensitive but get totally hacked off when I see ‘Group Save’ but must be for a party of 5 and families are always defined as four or more.    Grrr!  On occasion, I’ve borrowed mates kids!

I appreciate that this allows for larger families to visit such attractions but……

  • On the weekend we went to a local attraction, a family of 3 cost £20.50 when a family ticket for 4 is £22.50 – not much in it really.
  • London Zoo charges £63.00 for a family of 3 or a family of 4 for £66.70
  • The London Aquarium charges £56.40 for 3 people while a family of 4 is £64.26.
  • I applaud Legoland, as they do offer a price for a family of 3 but at £127.80, it’s still out of reach.

The bottom line is, that as a parent, I don’t normally want to go to these places in the first place, I’d rather chew my own arm off but I do it for my daughter.  I have been through things that are more painful than childbirth.  You’re getting 3 people through the door that you may not otherwise.

Come on, give us a break.  Just a couple of quid off and I’ll stop moaning!

I’d love to hear what single parents have to say about this!

Do you think this is fair?

 

Author: mediocremum

A slightly older mum of one, who drinks far too much red wine and has an unhealthy obsession with her slow cooker. During the day she's an ICT Trainer, Social Media/Online Marketing consultant and does a bit of public speaking. Full Profile on Google+

18 thoughts on “Rise of the One-Child Family”

  1. Seems quite unfair that smaller families and single parents would be losing out on deals. Not fair and hopefully this changes very soon! In this day and age with the economy the way it is, you would think that places would be desperate for peoples custom.

  2. There is little logic in ‘family’ pricing at all – I have three kids and have to buy a family ticket plus an extra one at the single child rate. Often a child over 12 is charged more money which is also illogical, and a single parent with three kids is the same price as two adults and two kids. We were just on holiday in Austria and for every paying adult a child was free. Now there’s an idea!

  3. We are at the the other end of the spectrum as a family of 6 and like you, struggle with “family tickets” in most places as they’re more aimed at families of 4 which means we have to pay for an extra child ticket (will be 2 extra once baby is old enough)

    Nowadays families come in all shapes and sizes and I agree with you that a family of 3 should not be paying £2 less than a family of 4. That just makes no sense at all, and definitely agree that single parents with one child are seriously losing out too (although most of the Merlin parks you can get free child tickets with a full paying adult if you search online!)

    Def think more needs to be done to encourage families to go to these places. After all, the “single” prices are extortionate anyways, so why not give a nice discount to families and like you said, that’s more through their door!!

  4. I agree it’s unfair.
    I also see families with more than 2 kids unfairly penalised … one family had to buy 2 studio flats at a Thomson holiday even though they fitted into 1 easily, as the kids were young.
    People will vote with their money, and I’m sure it will change soon – as you say, 1-2 kids is much more the norm nowadays.

  5. It does seem highly unfair and I get frustrated too – we are not a family of 4 either, but go the other way. If we are all together there are 7 of us but its usually 5 and there’s no discounts for more either!!

  6. I totally agree, I’m a single mum of 1 and we are a family!! Everywhere is getting SO expensive!!! Legoland is just crazy …. Grrrrr!

    Hello by the way!

      1. They used to do a great parent and toddler offer, £12.50 for adult and child under 3. They don’t anymore of course :(

  7. Single mum of 1 here – I’ve found that sometimes it is cheaper to pay a bit for things like a childs train ticket (before P turned 5 last week), to qualify for 2-for-1 discounts at places like The London Eye, or the aquarium. Teaming up with a friend and her son for a trip to Legoland next week – made it worthwhile to take advantage of the offer they were doing to share a room, stay overnight at the Legoland Hotel and get 2 days in the park for the price of 1!

    1. It’s one of those, spend money to save money, but we always do look for deals and vouchers…. just wish there was more of a difference between the price for 3 and price for four, the £2 difference is what hurts. We should pay 75% of what they pay and you should pay 50% which you may.

  8. As Rachel G said families come in all shapes and sizes nowadays and I really think they would find a better mix and match system! It never occurred to me that a smaller family would have similar problems in terms of cost implications!

    We’ve managed Legoland once but only because I saved up my Tesco clubcard vouchers, oh and I noticed today that you can do the same with your nectar points :)

    We’re a slightly bigger family and with 5 of us things are slightly harder in terms of ratios, for example I have rarely swum with the kids because you have to have a certain number of adults to children in my county.

    1. I don’t mind paying, but realistically we should be paying 75% of what others are paying, however, it is closer to 90%, this is my main grievance.

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