More British parents set to borrow to cover school fees

An increasing number of British parents are expected to borrow money in order to cover the costs of sending their children to school, it has emerged.

Sainsbury's Bank reports that it issued almost 18,000 loans for this purpose over the course of last year and that it anticipates this figure rising in 2008.

Parents tend to view paying school fees as investments for children but increasingly they will be unable to cover these costs from their own resources and will instead resort to borrowing.

The bank has explained its prediction by noting that more children are being put though private school and that the related fees have been increasing, while rises in the cost of living are seeing many parents stretched financially.

Meanwhile, James Elliot, coordinator for the Transact financial inclusion network, said recently that the lack of saving in the UK is a "huge problem".