Struggling to live up to their children's hopes , it's the poorest families who end up paying the highest price, writes Fionola Meredith

The recent collapse of the British Christmas savings club, Farepak, appeared to be a Dickensian tale of heartless avarice and betrayal. Many of the UK's poorest families lost thousands of pounds, leaving them with the prospect of a joyless Christmas, while the firm's millionaire bosses continued to enjoy their affluent lifestyles. The average loss was £500 (€740), but one single mother saw more than £1,000 of her savings slip from her grasp, while another couple, full-time carers for their disabled sons, lost £900. But why do so many hard-up families spend such disproportionately large chunks of their slender incomes on Christmas?

"There's quite unrealistic pressure on low-income families at Christmas," says Dermott Jewell, chief executive of the Consumers Association of Ireland. "Regardless of who you are, you want to be part of all the celebrations."

With a new survey by Deloitte predicting that the average Irish household will shell out more than €1,300 over Christmas - that's twice the European average, and a rise of 10 per cent on last year - the temptation to splurge excessively on food and gifts, when all of society seems to be doing the same, is vastly increased. And once the slide into debt begins, it can be difficult to find a way out. Many families are still paying not only for last Christmas, but the one before that.

The same survey found that the Irish spend most in Europe on children's presents: games consoles and dolls are high on our offspring's wish lists this year. Jewell acknowledges that children's demands for expensive computer games, designer clothing and footwear - and especially that familiar cry of "all my friends have one, why can't I?" - can prove to be the catalyst that tips parents into spending big bucks they can barely afford.

But for some families, that decision can involve the starkest of choices. Michael Culloty, from the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, points out that "people make huge sacrifices to live in our materialistic and consumer-driven society. They might cut back on heat, light or food to be able to afford these presents."

It's an uncomfortable issue to address: after all, the amount that individuals choose to spend on Christmas is essentially a private matter. Writer Julie Burchill has questioned the middle-class tendency to comment loftily on the spending patterns of lower-income families: "The working class still spend shamelessly - as they rightly should, for which class has worked harder for its money? Perhaps it is their 'betters' who should be more shame-faced in their weird, status-needy spending on five types of extortionately priced organic lettuce in a poxy salad [ or] a king's ransom on a fortnight's living death in a mausoleum in Tuscany."

But even if some of the festive shopping looks recklessly extravagant, Culloty points out that the spending may be as much about necessities as luxuries. He says, "Although people are possibly inclined to go overboard at times like Christmas, it can't be looked at as just spending on biscuits and beer. This is the other side of the poverty scenario. You or I may go out and buy clothes for our children today or tomorrow. But for many people, the clothes bought at Christmas are a once-a-year purchase - and they have to last all the following year."

It seems that Christmas in Ireland is turning into an ostentatious spend-fest, with huge numbers of people lavishing unprecedented amounts of money on their friends and families. Struggling to live up to their children's Christmas hopes and expectations, it's the poorest families - those that can least afford it - who end up paying the highest price.