Skiving School
Friday 11th March 2011: Despite the importance of education and schooling for young children, a third of British parents will happily lie to get permission to remove their children from school during term time – to go on their annual summer holiday.
The study by Sheilas’ Wheels travel insurance shows the desperate measures parents will take this year to ensure they avoid the hike in holiday costs during school breaks.
Incredibly, 14 per cent of parents polled intend to tell the head teacher they’ve suffered a death in the family, and need leave from school to mourn and a further quarter (24 per cent) of parents will claim they have work commitments which means they aren’t allowed to take holiday at any other time of the year.
Furthermore, one in 10 will pretend they have a special family birthday which they want to mark with a big holiday. Seven per cent of those polled admit they will say the holiday they want to go on is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and six per cent will claim a member of the family has a special anniversary.
Jacky Brown at Sheilas’ Wheels travel insurance, which polled 3,000 parents said: “It really is awful that parents feel they have to lie to be allowed to take their children out of school, and yet at the same time it is completely understandable.
“Unfortunately, taking holidays during term time can be frowned upon heavily, and there is also a stigma attached to parents who choose to remove their children when they should be studying.
“That said, holiday costs often double during the months of July and August, leaving it impossible for many families to enjoy a break abroad.”
Unfortunately, seven in 10 parents want to take their children out of school during term time because they simply can’t afford a holiday abroad during the summer break.
But 36 per cent would be embarrassed to admit to the head teacher that this is the reason they want to take the kids out of school.
Two thirds of parents polled claim they will take their children out of school even if they are refused permission, but 18 per cent will forfeit a holiday altogether.
And for those parents who aren’t going to try to take their children out of school, 37 per cent are choosing to holiday in the UK this year as its all they can afford.
And a further 37 per cent are ditching a summer holiday altogether in favour of staying at home.
Jacky Brown further commented: “There is a lot of pressure on today’s modern women to juggle both her working and family life, so being able to spend quality time with the family away from the usual surroundings is very important.
“For peace of mind, it’s vital for holidaymakers to make sure they’ve got travel insurance and double check what they are covered for, as while you can’t plan for every eventuality, you can make sure you have done everything you can before leaving the UK.”
Unsurprisingly, the study shows two thirds of parents get frustrated that they can only take their children on holiday during the school holidays.
And the rise in costs means 32 per cent of parents don’t holiday for as long, 18 per cent no longer travel to far-flung destinations and 12 per cent choose self-catering over all inclusive options.
But 46 per cent of parents acknowledge they will probably be perceived as bad parents if they remove their children from school during term time, and more than half worry the teachers will look down their noses at them.
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Notes to Editors:
(1) SWNS conducted an online research survey via Onepoll which interviewed a random sample of 3,000 parents aged 18 and over between 14th – 18th February 2011.
