Under 21s looking to get on the road face far steeper costs than what their parents faced, new data shows.
In what should be a time of excitement and independence has turned into a financial speed bump too big for many.
It costs an average of £7,609 to get a 17 to 20-year-old on the road and driving for the first year, according to the latest edition of MoneySupermarket’s Household Money Index.
In 1989 the average young motorist had to pay £1,285 (£3,234 adjusted for inflation) to get on the road. It means a rise of 135 per cent in 35 years.
It costs young people in 2024 a ginormous 135 per cent above the rate of inflation over the last 35 years, comparative to 1989 when it cost £3,234 (adjusted for inflation)
These figures vary 13 per cent across the UK: London’s the dearest costing an average of £8,422, whereas in Cardiff it costs £7,309.
Nearly half of young people said they couldn’t afford to get driving without financial help from their parents.
And the majority of under-25s (53 per cent) who’d put off learning to drive said they’d avoided it because it was too expensive.
Many kids will hope their parents can chip in and help, but in a blow to eager drivers, parents who took part in the research estimated they could only contribute £990 – or 13 per cent of the amount needed.
While most people would have picked up a Saturday job to cover the cost of lessons or undertaken odd jobs around the house and local area for pocket money, that just won’t cut it these days.
The HMI found that a 17-year-old would need to work over 1,188 hours to cover the cost of driving their first year on the road.
With 17-year-olds earning minimum wage of just £6.40 an hour, teenagers would need to spend more than half their annual income to drive.
The biggest reason for the cost increase came from the massive hike in insurance premiums – something This is Money has covered in detail
To work out the costs of getting on the road MoneySupermarket’s HMI – one of the most in-depth cost analysis of getting on the road – took into account purchasing a licence, lessons and a test, plus the cost of actually driving – buying a car, insurance, fuel and charges such as ULEZ and parking tickets.
The biggest reason for the cost increase is through hikes in insurance premiums.
According to data from the comparison website, insurance has risen over five times the rate of inflation – 27 per cent since 2019.
In 2023 the average car insurance premium rose 25 per cent, with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) reporting that the average premium was £543, up from £434 in 2022.
In 2019 the average insurance quote for a 17 to 20 year old was £1,240 – today it’s £1,700.
While driving your children might seem like a cost-effective alternative, once you’ve taken into account the drain on time the HMI shows that it makes more sense if you can afford it to contribute to your child learning to drive and getting a car
So, is driving your kids a solution instead?
MoneySupermarket found the average parent of the 17 to 20-year-old age group spends 9.3 hours a month or 4.6 days a year ferrying their kids around – which costs them £1,336 a year.
Spread over the three years between 17 and 20, the value of the lifts parents give their kids would pay for 31 per cent of their total motoring costs in the same period.
But the HMI finds it’s a better investment (if you can afford it) to put this money towards paying your children to drive rather than being a taxi service.
Paying for your kids’ licence, lessons and first year of insurance totals an average of £3,658, leaving them to manage the cost of the car itself plus fuel, taxes and charges. And parents will have that well-earned time back.
Sara Newell, of MoneySupermarket, said: ‘Parents of today’s young drivers generally had a much less expensive experience when it was our turn to get on the road.
’95 per cent of people we asked underestimated how much it costs for young drivers today – which is no surprise given it’s 135 per cent above the rate of inflation over the last 35 years.
‘When you’re faced with the decision of slogging it out as a taxi service, or helping financially so your kids can get on the road, it’s not a straightforward choice – as our latest Household Money Index shows’.
