Quarter of parents can't afford to pay monthly bills » Communities » 24dash.com

One in four parents say they no longer have enough money to pay their bills each month, research showed today.

Around 25% of people claim their household income is too small to cover all their bills and a further 27% think they will be in this situation in six months' time, according to the Family and Parenting Institute.

One in 10 parents also said they were worried that the family's main bread winner would be made redundant during the next six months, and nearly 4% of people with a mortgage admitted that it was very or fairly likely that their home would be repossessed during the coming year.

Heating bills are causing people the most concern at 47%, while 36% are worried about the rent or mortgage and 31% are concerned about food costs.

The impact of rising costs is being made worse by the debt that many parents have, with three-quarters saying they owe money through credit cards, overdrafts and loans, with debts averaging £8,400.

Overall, a third of parents said money worries were causing them sleepless nights, while 29% admitted they were having arguments about their financial situation.

A quarter of people also said they had borrowed or been given money by their parents during the past year.

Speaking at the group's Parent Child 2008 conference, chief executive of the Family and Parenting Institute Mary MacLeod said: "Families up and down the country are finding it hard to balance their budgets. Many also have a heavy burden of debt.

"Parents say they feel under stress as they struggle to clothe and feed the children and find money for school trips yet need to cut back to manage within their income.

"This can put a big strain on relationships. Even more of a strain is the pervasive fear that they will be out of work or even lose their home."

YouGov questioned 5,309 parents with children aged under 16 in the UK during October.