Interesting Facts

Child benefit costs UK taxpayers £12 billion a year. (Anyone with children can claim child benefit, regardless of their personal circumstances. About 7.7 million families currently get it, but that could be about to change as Chancellor George Osborne has announced it will be axed for higher-rate taxpayers from 2013. Unlucky 13 for some then.)

According to a study commissioned by home energy management service "AlertMe", the average Brit lies in a semi-detached home and wakes up at 6.57am. (Half of all the families who replied said their favourite form of entertainment is watching television - the typical British family has the goggle box switched on for nine hours each day and their favourite show is the TV show Doctor Who. The run-of-the-mill British family sits down for dinner at 5.54pm, but they only eat together three times a week and they argue around twice a week. The average weekly food shop came to £76.02 and a further £12 each week was spent on alcohol. Fathers were most concerned about keeping costs down, in more than a third of households he is the person who turns off lights and stand-by switches. Meanwhile, British mothers bear the brunt of chores, doing an average of four and a half hours of housework each week, including at least five loads of laundry!)

A study commissioned by home energy service Alert Me, shows that the average British family goes to bed at around 10.30pm. (I have to admit that this makes me Mrs Average.)