Grandparents set to spend over £1.4 billion on presents this Christmas

Lucky kids are set to enjoy a bumper Christmas this year, with grandparents set to spend over £1.4 billion on presents for them, according to research.

A study found the typical nan and granddad will splash out £42 on each of their beloved grandchildren in the run up to December 25.

With the average grandparent having four grandchildren, that means they will spend £167 on their grandsons and granddaughters.

And with nearly 8.5 million grandparents set to celebrate Christmas this year, kids gifts will leave a £1,416,733,965 dent in their bank balance.

The research by over 50s experts, SunLife, also found one in five grandparents have six or more grandkids to buy for, which means forking out more than £250 each at Christmas.

The study of 1,700 children also revealed younger children would still choose presents over pounds from their elders, while older kids would prefer cash.

This leaves millions of grandparents faced with the tricky task of choosing exactly what to buy their younger relatives.

Ian Atkinson, marketing director at SunLife said: “We’ve learnt from previous research that generations often feel out of touch with each other. As a company that’s for everyone over 50, we wanted to help grandparents with their Christmas shopping this year.”

As a result, experts have put together a go-to guide for grandparents, revealing the wish lists of children across the UK.

The research asked children age six to 15 what they’d most like for Christmas.

The most popular choice this year for boys was Lego, closely followed by computer games while topping the list for girls were board games.

The highest placed choice on both the girls’ and boys’ lists was board games, followed by mobile phones, tablets and science kits.

The most popular gift in the ‘average’ spend price range of £42, was LEGO Minecraft The Mushroom Island for kids aged up to 11.

And then for older kids, clothes, with pyjamas being the most popular request, followed by tops, dressing gowns and jeans.

The most popular themes included Smiggle, Superheroes, Minecraft, Pokemon and Unicorns, while girls said they’d rather have a Spider-man themed lunchbox than Frozen.

When asked if money was no object, responses ranged from the luxurious to the ridiculous,

With requests for everything from a Ferrari to a pet unicorn, with one child just wishing their nan and grandad lived closer.

Ian Atkinson added: “We’re giving grandparents a practical, informative list based on the answers we got from asking over 1,700 children what they want from their grandparents at Christmas.

”Their answers were funny, informative and really heart-warming – from saying their favourite part of Christmas is spending time with the family…to being desperate for a pet unicorn, a million pounds and a huge cheesecake.”

The official guide can be found on the SunLife website.