But this pressure is not the preserve of the poor. Millins points out that even parents with higher incomes are putting costly kids' products on to their credit cards only to find, later on, that they can't always meet the repayments. Eileen Jones, founder of the charity PositiveParenting.org, says that regardless of class, 'the commercial focus on children has led some people into money troubles'. Rebecca Thomas, a trained social worker and mother of three, agrees. She takes a 'firm but fair' approach to her children, telling them 'very clearly' what they can and can't have and coming up with a compromise where appropriate.
Children are no longer content with just teddies or dolls or footballs.
Psychologists and retailers agree that children's demands depend on several factors, not least their age. The accepted wisdom is that the older they get, the more expensive they become. It is perhaps no coincidence that a conference called Kids 2001 will be held next month aimed at companies keen to capitalise on what has become known as the 'playground market'. It runs into billions and billions of pounds. And, he says, it's going to get bigger.