subject: How Much Pocket Money Should I Be Paying? [print this page] Parents wondering how much money to give their children for their weekly allowance could take inspiration from the figures brought forward by a study released by Halifax.
This survey showed that the recession has found another enemy in the 8-15s, as pocket money rates continue to drop.
During the research undertaken by TNS, 1204 children were consulted.
The recorded amount of average pocket cash was 5.89 per week, a 40p decrease since 2009 and an enormous 2.48 decrease since 2005.
In fact, parental generosity hasn't been this lacking in seven years, when pocket money amounts dipped below a 6 average in 2003.
London children have been the most heavily impacted as rates fell from 2009's 10.79 to 6.89 - a staggering 4.00 drop in one year.
The survey also determined the participants' attitude towards their amount of pocket income.
49% are satisfied with the amount that they're given, but 42% are unsatisfied and wished they had more.
Another 37% of participants are convinced that their friends get more money than them and around a quarter think they get about the same as their friends.
However, 28% don't know if they get more or less than their chums, as they don't ever discuss such things.
An enormous gap between the sexes has also been revealed in this quarter, as boys are given the higher amount of 6.08 compared to the measly female average of 5.58.
This 40p difference is a shocking one, but it is also a major improvement on last year when rates were 1.00 apart.
Age was another factor that was examined in the study and as you might have expected the younger category of 8-11 years have the smaller average of 4.57 compared to the 12-15 rate of 7.02.
But, like the gender differences, this gap has also been significantly reduced since last year's study.
Interesting trends were also revealed in the saving habits of the questioned youngsters.
Here, nearly a quarter of participants were planning to save over half of their allowance, 13% said they would save at least three quarters and 9% are actually planning to save the whole weekly sum.
This is actually a drop since last year, when 50% planned to save at least half of their pocket earnings.
The overall average amount being saved this year is 37% of the income, which is 2.15 for every week.
What exactly these children are saving up for was also examined.
35% would use their savings to buy a special and expensive item, but 39% would ask for it as a present and 18% will wail, scream and pester their unsuspecting parents till they get it on the spot.
Discovering that 77% of those questioned would like to learn more about saving can only be a good thing too, they're not quite ready to go for a credit card comparison yet but they'll get there.
Parents should just keep those technology loving, money savvy kids away from the instant decision credit cards!
by: Julia Cook
welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)
