Parents fork out €749 on Communion Day spend

Parents spent an average of €749 on their child’s First Communion, according to a survey of spending habits by Ulster Bank.

The survey found that the average spend on Communion day has dropped 2% from €764 last year, and that the amount of money received by children on the big day has dropped 8% to an average of €543.

When asked on individual spends, the surveyed parents revealed that an average of €326.74 is spent on the party food and drinks and €175.37 goes towards the child’s outfit for the day. A further €192.22 is spent on clothes for other family members and €118.93 is paid out on children’s entertainment.

Bucking a gender trend in adult earnings, girls will take home more money than boys from their First Communion day. According to the survey of 202 parents, girls receive an average of €570, compared to boys, who received an average of €512.

Girls also appear less likely to have spent a large portion of their Communion money at this point, with more than a third (35%) of parents with girls citing they had only spent 1%-20% of their Communion money to date compared to 20% of parents with boys.

Some 13% of children have not yet spent any of their Communion money, opting to save it instead, while 15% have spent all of the money they received. The most popular items bought with Communion money were toys (44%), followed by computer games (36%), closely followed by clothes (34%).

Jim Ryan, Ulster Bank’s managing director of branch banking, private banking, and financial planning, said the First Holy Communion presents many children with their first opportunity to learn the value of money and how best to manage it.

“While the total amount that children receive has dropped somewhat in comparison to last year, at an average of €543, this is a significant sum of money for any 7- or 8-year-old to receive,” he said.