One in five Irish children are given over €1,000 by relatives on the day of their First Holy Communion, according to a recent survey.
The survey, which was carried out by mummypages.ie, also revealed that the average child in Ireland was given €323 but a fifth get between €1,000 and €1,500.
The parenting organisation quizzed 1,005 mothers for the survey.
Elsewhere in the survey the parents revealed how much they spend on their child’s big day. The average cost to parent’s for the child’s first Holy Communion ranges from €1,222 – €1,525. These totals were added up from the average costs of communion outfits (€236), child’s hair and make-up appointment (€75), new clothes for other family members (€260) and food and catering (€400-€600).
Despite the big spending, the vast majority of parents (98%) believed that a card was the most appropriate gift. This was followed by jewellery or a religious token (88%).
The amount of money put in a child’s communion card typically ranges from €5-€30. More than half of the parents questioned said that they feel pressure to spend big for their child’s First Holy Communion.
Laura Haugh, a spokeswoman for mummypages.ie said: “It seems that as we become more financially stable the materialistic nature of the Holy Communion Day is creeping back in.
“Parents are spending more on outfits and the celebrations while children are now obsessing over how much money they will receive in gifts on their big day.
“The consensus amongst mums is ‘less is more’ when it comes to the beauty regime for little girls preparing for their Holy Communion.
“Most of our mums agree it is acceptable to wear subtle nail varnish, have their ears pierced or get a professional hair-do, while wearing make-up and fake tan is considered totally inappropriate.
“In an effort to help parents curb costs and instil a sense of community within their school, many will now throw a big party for the children after the church ceremony.
“In addition, just over one in ten schools will hire sacramental robes for the children or insist they wear their uniform on their big day.”