Canadian parents are strongly committed to a postsecondary education for their children, according to new results from the Survey of Approaches to Educational Planning released by Statistics Canada.

The survey indicated that as of October 2002, children up to the age of 18 had an estimated $32 billion already set aside by their parents for future postsecondary schooling. This was nearly double the estimate of $17 billion in the survey’s first round in 1999.

The 2002 total includes $11 billion in registered education savings plans and about $20 billion in all other types of savings.

Almost three-quarters (74%) of children up to the age of five had parents who expected that their youngsters would complete a university degree. However, expectations changed as the children got older. Among children aged 6 to 12 in 2002, 68% had parents who anticipated that the youngsters would finish university. This proportion fell further to 61% among children aged 13 to 18.

The survey found that more Canadian children had money set aside for their postsecondary education than three years earlier.

In 1999, the first round of the survey found that 3 million children up to the age of 18, or 41% of the total, had parents who reported that they had set aside savings for their children’s postsecondary education. By 2002, this number had increased to 3.6 million, or about one-half of the total.

Parents who had not yet started to save, or did not intend to save, most frequently reported lack of money as the main reason for not saving.

Survey results highlighted the important role played by parental attitudes about postsecondary education in saving behaviours, as well as the role of the child’s academic performance.

About 86% of children aged 13 to 18 had parents who reported that they would be contributing to the costs of postsecondary education through means other than savings. These included using parental earnings, providing room and board, or taking out loans in the parent’s name.

Over 90% of children aged 13 to 18 were also expected to contribute to their own postsecondary costs, by working before or during postsecondary studies and by applying for grants, scholarships, loans and the like.

When the various combinations of parental savings and other financing strategies were all taken into account, only about 1% of children aged 13 to 18 had no savings or financial plans in place for a postsecondary education.

For children with parents who were already saving, the amounts saved to date varied according to several factors, including the child’s age and household income.

The median amount saved as of October 2002 for children up to five was $2,000. For children aged 6 to 12, it was $5,000, and for those aged 13 to 18, it was $7,000.

About 61% of children living in high income households had parents who were using RESPs plans to save, compared with 42% of children living in low-income households.

Parents who had put aside savings at the time of the survey were asked to estimate their total savings by the time their child became eligible for postsecondary enrolment. Parents of children living in lower income groups tended to expect about $10,000 in savings by the time postsecondary schooling began. This is the equivalent of about one year of postsecondary costs.

In contrast, parents of children living in households at the highest income levels were more likely to expect about $20,000 to $25,000 in savings, the equivalent of about two and a half years of postsecondary costs.

The survey was conducted in October 2002. Just over 10,000 children up to the age of 18 were selected for the sample.