By Daniel Hunter
The taxis of mum and dad make an average of 27 journeys per week, clocking up an average of 148 miles, ferrying children to a range of activities such as ballet, football practice and piano lessons.
New research from Aviva reveals that, in fact, parents will have driven over half way to the moon (125,817 miles) chaperoning their children to and from their hobbies and social engagements by the time they reach the legal driving age of 17.
Unsurprisingly, to keep up with their children's busy social lives, the number of households relying on two cars to manage their family schedules has trebled in the past 40 years and over a third of parents (36%) now rely upon two or more cars in order to split the numerous family car rides between them.
The research shows that the most demanding social schedule comes as children hit primary school. Parents of primary school kids make an average of 31 journeys per week (1,559 per year) between their cars to keep up with their children's busy social calendar.
These include trips to sports clubs and practice (three per week), trips to friend's houses (three per week), family outings and events (six per week) and journeys to school (four per week) as well as various other after school activities and social clubs.
While the social lives of secondary school children demand less of mum and dad, parents of this age group still chaperone their children on an average 23 car trips per week, with trips to friends' houses (3 per week) and sports clubs (3 per week) the most frequent journeys.
Over the course of a month, mum and dad on average will jointly spend the equivalent of one whole day ferrying their children between their social engagements (25.16 hours over the course of a month).
The average family cars undertake 12 trips to and from friend's houses for play dates or sleepovers, 11 journeys to and from sports clubs or sports practice and six trips to and from their children's friends' birthday parties per month.
Heather Smith, Director of Marketing at Aviva said: "It's easy to see how parents could drive themselves round the bend with their children's busy social lives, due to the array of social engagements and friend's parties they are continually driving their children to and from.
"And with parents having to make around 27 journeys a week for their children, it's no surprise that over a third of parents now rely on two or more cars to ferry their kids around. It's amazing they have any spare time left after the numerous family car rides.
"For households that require two cars to help them manage the busy family schedule, a multicar insurance policy is one way to help ease the strain of a busy family life and could save them money. Families using an Aviva Multicar policy benefit from the convenience of one set of paperwork, one renewal date and a potential saving of up to a third on a second car's insurance policy."
Join us on
Follow @freshbusiness
