15-year-old Lauren Walsh has a designer wardrobe many women can only dream about, but it comes at a cost.
Jackie, Lauren’s mum, has taken up three jobs in order to pay for her daughter’s lifestyle, and is currently looking for a fourth job.
Her philosophy on spending may differ from that of a lot of other parents, as she says: “Lauren just loves shopping but then so do I. She probably gets that from me. If you’ve got it, spend it – that’s what I say.”
Lauren describes herself as spoilt: “I think my friends would describe me as spoilt and I don’t disagree with them because I know I am.”
Lauren is said to spend over £600 on her designer wardrobe, saying that she often forgets about all of the expensive clothes she has bought, such as a pair of Hunter wellies which she confesses: “I was begging my mum for these and said I’d wear them all the time. They were really expensive but I haven’t worn them once. Most of them I don’t even wear!”
Jackie works primarily as a carer, earning £6.81 an hour and also works at a cleaning job as well as one other job. She also helps her daughter to do her paper round: “I do half of it – maybe 10 papers ... Lauren does 14. But then Lauren gets the money and I don’t get any.”
Lauren appreciates her mum’s help with her part-time job, saying: “Lots of people don’t think it’s okay that my mum helps me with my paper round but I am grateful for her doing it with me because I don’t think I’d still be doing it now if she wasn’t with me.”
Jackie also revealed that shopping gives her daughter a confidence boost that she feels she is lacking. As Lauren says in her own words: “I do feel pressurised when I see people in magazines. They look like normal people but they’re wearing all new clothes, so you think, of if I wear those I’ll look really good as well ... I know that my mum does [spend too much] but it’s her decision. She gets it out of her pocket, she pays for it and I don’t force her to do it.”
Lauren and Jackie star in the Channel 5 programme The 12 Year Old Shopaholic and Other Big Spending Kids which is available on the Channel 5 online player Demand 5.
