The loot collected by children making their First Communion has now surpassed the highs of the boom times, and they stand to make almost €600 each through their acceptance of one of the most sacred sacraments of the Roman Catholic tradition.
While the kids will be quids in, their parents are showing a restraint more associated with the bust rather the boom, according to Ulster Bank's annual Communion survey which was published this afternoon.
In the years before the recession hit in 2008, it was not unusual for parents to hire limousines and bouncy castles and shell out on expensive dresses, suits, make-up and spray tans. Just before the crash communing families were spending an average of €1,165 on the festivities.
The spend plummeted once the bubble burst and this year’s crop of parents will spend €400 less on the holy day than they did in 2008. Parents told Ulster Bank’s researchers that they spent an average of €764 on their child’s First Holy Communion this year, an increase from last year’s €732.
The bank broke down the figures and found that the cost of the communion party including food and drink was €334 this year, up 14 per cent from 2013.
The white frock or the suit cost an average of €171, the same figure as last year, while outfits for other family members cost a further €196, down 12 per cent on 2013. The cost of children’s entertainment went in the other direction, albeit ever so slightly. The survey put it as €123, up 2 per cent on the previous year.
The survey also found children who made their First Communion this year got an average of €591, up €70 on the 2013 figure. It also reported that 12 per cent of children have not yet spent any of their Communion money and have opted to save it instead.
Some 43 per cent of the children who decided to do the decent thing and spend the money, bought toys. Video games proved popular for 41 per cent while 34 per cent spent the cash on clothes.
There was a gender divide reported with 18 per cent of girls having already spent all their Communion money compared with just 12 per cent of boys.
A terrifying 13 per cent of girls spent the money on phone credit.
