Is this mum right to charge parents £6 for their children to attend her twins' birthday party?

A mum has kicked-off a parenting debate about whether it is right to charge children to attend a birthday party.

Rumi Ali, 29, a single mother of twin boys, invited 60 of their friends to a party at Fun Valley to celebrate their fifth birthday and asked parents to contribute £6 towards the cost.

One parent whose child was invited to the party posted anonymously in a Facebook community group saying she had never come across this before and asking if charging was the done thing nowadays.

Ms Ali, who is in her second year at De Montford University studying for a degree, has said that despite her number being on the invite, the parent had not contacted her directly.

According to the Leicester Mercury the mum has defended her decision to ask parents to pay explaining that as the boys are in two different classes they have a lot of friends to invite.

“I didn’t want anybody to get left out,” she told the publication.

“I thought I don’t want to pick and choose which friends can come.

“I thought, invite the whole class and then nobody’s upset.

“I thought they [the parents] would understand [the charge],” she said.

Aside from the anonymous poster on Facebook the mum went on to point out that no other parents have questioned the cost.

She also added that if any parent had struggled to pay she would have still wanted their child to attend.

Even with the parents subsidising the cost she expects the bill to be around £500.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” the mum continued.

“But this was the best way for me,” she said.

Despite the original post querying the charge children to attend, many parents have defended the mum’s decision.

“Not all parents can afford to pay for parties but also they want to make their child happy by having a party for them,” one poster wrote. “Instead of buying a gift you could pay the £6 and buy a birthday card.”

As any parent will appreciate birthday parties can be a costly business.

According to recent research from UK discount brand, Vouchercloud, the average parent of a primary school-aged child spends £320.50 on a party – with a further £175.80, on average, then forked out on birthday presents.

So, how is this money broken down?

The costliest item out of your budget will be entertainment (21%), followed by catering (19%), decorations (16%), party bags (14%) and finally a measly 9% spent on the actual venue hire.

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