Mothers are more likely to have control over their family's purse strings than fathers, a survey in the UK has found.

More than a third of women (38 per cent) say they manage the budget, compared with around a quarter (27 per cent) of men, according to Nationwide Building Society's Great British Family report.

Meanwhile, around a third of (34 per cent) families were found to manage their budget equally between both parents.

The survey was carried out among 2.000 families with at least one child under 18 years old still living at home.

It found families had an average of around €9.300 in savings, while one in nine (11 per cent) families surveyed had more than €23.200 put away.

Families also owed an average of €1.878 on credit cards and €1.526 on personal loans.

On average, those surveyed had two children and lived in a three-bedroom house.

Fathers worked 35 hours per week on average while mothers worked 25 hours. Mothers also said they typically spent 17 hours every week doing household chores - seven hours longer than fathers, who spent around 10 hours a week doing chores including cleaning, cooking and laundry.

After paying the main bills, families typically said they had an average of €212 of disposable income a week to spend.

Just over half (51 per cent) of those surveyed used childcare such as after-school clubs, costing around €2,323 a year per family.

Families also had two holidays a year typically - but one in eight (13 per cent) were not able to go on holiday together at all. Nearly a third (30 per cent) of those who did go away spent more than 10 per cent of their annual income on holidays.

Families should make time to review the household budget regularly

Phil Smith, Nationwide's head of current accounts, said: "Families should make time to review the household budget regularly."

"Staying on top of finances and learning to put any excess cash away will ensure that goals can be set and achieved. It also provides a cushion for any unforeseen costs or problems arising at short notice."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.