Bounty Survey Shows Having a Baby Helps Women Survive Economic Down Turn

LONDON - The current economic climate is not stopping people from having babies, and having a baby is helping modern mothers to cope with the credit crunch says Bounty, the UK’s favourite parenting club.

Last year, figures showed that the UK birth rate increased by 4% - the biggest annual increase since 1979. This year the birth rate is forecast to rise from 779,112, to 815,057 - the seventh annual increase in row.

The latest research carried out by Bounty among 3,000 mums(1) supports the ‘Baby Boom’ claims:

- More than half of women said that the financial downturn wouldn’t affect any decisions they would take with regards to starting a family - 1 in 5 of those polled admitted that they are planning to conceive this year

In addition, Bounty research suggests that UK mums are coping with the credit crunch and are not as downbeat as everyone else(2). When asked how they were feeling about the family finances:

- 39% of mums said they were confident and that whilst money is ‘a bit tight’, they’ll manage. - 23% said ‘We’re fine, happy and going along as usual’. - 20% are taking steps to cut back - Only 18% said they were under pressure financially.

While there’s no denying that times are tough for family life, many women find that motherhood helps them to become savvy shoppers.

Commenting on the research, Faye Mingo, Parenting Spokesperson at Bounty, said “It’s good that mums are upbeat and coping, but it didn’t take the credit crunch for mums to switch to shopping at cost-saving retailers - they were already there. Taking maternity leave and dropping from two salaries to one is character-building stuff.”

“Women get used to having less disposable income when they become a mum. They have to make less money stretch that bit further, but they’re also less tempted by impulse spending, such as lunchtime shopping and after work drinks. Mums don’t spend as much on socialising and eating out, instead they spend more time on the high street and become aware of who has what offers.”

“We know from our online forums that ‘Word of Mum’ is also incredibly powerful in helping them to save money. Mums talk to other mums in the same situation and tip each other off about the latest products, sales and promotions.”

“Whilst mums are being careful with their money, they are increasingly realising that treats for themselves are important to help avoid the doom and gloom. They are adopting a new ‘trade to treat’ mentality, in which the money they have saved on a buy one get one free deal on nappies is spent on something for themselves, like a new lipstick, bottle of wine or a book. Mums have redefined what they regard as a treat in order to be able to justify indulging themselves. Bigger treats like new jeans and haircuts are becoming less frequent. Instead they’re spoiling themselves 2-3 times a week with more regular, smaller treats.

References: 1. The research for Bounty was carried out online by One Poll between 2nd - 14th February 2009 2. Bounty Multi-methodology approach over a five-month period (Sept 2008 - January 2009): Bounty.com online polling amongst 3,000 pre & post-natal women, four qualitative group discussions and quantitative online survey capturing the views of 217 dads.

Mintel reports used: - Baby clothes: December 2007 - Nappies and wipes: April 2008 - Baby Toiletries: June 2007 - Baby food and drink: November 2007 - Baby Carriages and car seats: August 2006 - Nursery furniture and equipment: October 2006

Editors’ Notes:

Bounty (www.bounty.com) is the UK’s favourite parenting club, providing information, support and products for young families throughout the four key-life stages: pre-birth, birth, toddlers and pre-school.

With 2.5 million members and over 50,000 new members joining every month, Bounty has approximately 95% market coverage of the estimated 750,000 annual births in the UK.

www.bounty.com is the UK’s favourite parenting website and the largest online meeting point for mums in the UK with over 19 million pages being served each month, 700,000 opted-in members and a further 15,000 new members joining each month.

Source: Bounty Parenting Club

For further information please contact Lisa Penney on +44(0)1707-294000 or email lpenney at bounty.com