One in five parents pay children’s pocket money by bank transfer – survey

More than one in five parents transfer their children’s pocket money straight into their bank account, bypassing the traditional piggy bank, a survey has found.

While the majority of parents surveyed still give their children cash, 22% pay their children by bank transfer.

And more than half (53%) of parents believe their child is good at managing their money, according to the research from Barclays.

Two-thirds (68%) of the parents of children aged under 16 surveyed said they rewarded them with pocket money for performing tasks around the home.

Errands deemed most worthy of pocket money were found to include washing the car, looking after younger siblings and cleaning the bathroom.

The findings suggest children will receive an average of £7.58 per week this year.

When spending their pocket money, sweets and chocolate are the most popular outgoing, followed by toys and video games, the survey found.

Gillean Dooney, Head of Families at Barclays shares her top tips on how to teach children financial literacy from a young age. Make money work for you. Learn more: https://t.co/rtw28ZA3FG pic.twitter.com/TAKXYvwbGG

— Barclays UK (@BarclaysUK) January 5, 2022

Over two-fifths (44%) of children resist the temptation to spend their hard-earned money and instead choose to save it.

Gillean Dooney, head of families at Barclays, said: “If your kids are happy to do their bit around the house, pocket money is a really good way of teaching them the value of money at an early age.

“Many of the parents we surveyed said that this was one of the biggest motivators behind giving pocket money to their children.”

Ms Dooney suggested starting teaching children about money from a young age, with Barclays’ research finding many parents start giving their child a small amount from seven-years-old.

She also suggested creating a visual savings plan with key milestones that children could track and tick off along the way.

In addition to Barclays’ tips, Louise Hill, co-founder of children’s debit card and financial education app GoHenry, which recently launched in-app money lessons, said: “Managing your finances well isn’t an innate skill, it needs to be learnt young through both education and real-world experience …

“The golden question is of course how to teach children these vital money skills.

“The one piece of advice I always come back to is to give your children pocket money so they can learn how to budget, save and spend responsibly.

“It doesn’t matter how much it is, it can be 5p or £5, but having their own pot of money means they have the autonomy to manage it themselves, which will set them up well for the future. It’s better to make a £20 mistake aged seven, rather than a £2,000 mistake aged 27.”