Parents desperate to make extra cash are turning to selling their possessions, working as Uber drivers and taking out loans from friends, new research has found.
Mums and dads who want to stay home with their young children for as long as they can are going to extreme lengths to raise surplus cash.
The findings have been highlighted in the inaugural finder.com.au Cost of Kids Report 2017, which surveyed some 2,005 parents.
Many respondents, 17 per cent, had sold belongings or assets, and about one in six had changed jobs to one which allowed them to work from home.
Almost one in 10 parents had done freelance work to make extra money, while 7 per cent had started some kind of online business.
Others (7 per cent) borrowed money from friends or family, the bank (6 per cent) or rented out a spare room in their property (4 per cent) to make ends meet.
Bessie Hassan, Money Expert at finder.com.au, says one income wasn’t enough for many families when monthly household bills roll around.
“With the cost of living on the rise, stay-at-home parents are forced to think outside the box to ease money worries.
“Some parents would rather purge their possessions than rush back to the job they had before kids,” she says.
Starting a blog (3 per cent) and becoming an Uber driver (2 per cent) were also tactics Australians had tried to spend more time with their offspring.
“The research shows 42 per cent of families are taking measures to bring in some much-needed extra income.”
Ms Hassan said an unexpected bill can cause chaos for families on a single income.
“Some methods are more extreme than others, with some parents even resorting to the sharing economy as they struggle to pay the bills.
“With the rise of platforms like Uber and Airtasker it has never been easier to make a quick buck,” says Ms Hassan.
“Whether it’s driving at night or completing odd jobs during the day while the kids are at school – there are endless money making opportunities to help ease the pain of living paycheck to paycheck.”
