Kids received an annual pocket money salary of £254 last year, working out at £4.88 a week – and encouragingly they saved 39% of it.
The data was taken from the Pocket Money Index, an annual survey sampling 20,000 RoosterMoney users – a money-tracking app for parents and kids – from January 2018 to January 2019.
Overall, the app found 73% of parents gave regular pocket money last year, with common chores being “washing the car”, and “gardening and mopping”.
Other chores to get the cash included cleaning the kitchen and bathroom (earning them, on average, £1 each), helping with dinner and washing the dishes.
[Read More: How to help your kids manage money in the digital world]
The kids saving their money were most likely to be stacking up the cash for Lego, a mobile phone or holiday money. Others were saving for bikes, tablets and a playstation.
The top things children spend their pocket money on in 2018 were sweets, books, Lego, presents, Xbox, apps, Minecraft, slime and Roblox.
Interestingly, the most entrepreneurial age group were nine-year-olds, who boosted their income by selling old toys and clothes, averaging £22.03 per sale.
Will Carmichael, RoosterMoney CEO highlighted that kids had positive money habits from as young as four, “Starting to engage your kids early by creating teachable moments around money can help cement positive money habits that will stick with kids for a lifetime,” he said. “The new year is a great time to kickstart a pocket money saving routine to encourage your kids to make considered choices about how they use their money.”
The pocket money stats are far lower than the Childwise Monitor report in January 2018, which found that five- to 10-year-olds receive £6.40 per week on average and 11-16-year-olds say they get £16.30 per week.
[Read More: Would you give your child £11.20 a week pocket money?]
At the time, many parents responding on HuffPost UK’s Facebook page said the average figure seemed very high. Some said they didn’t give their children pocket money at all, instead saving up for experiences. “My daughter is seven and doesn’t get any pocket money,” wrote Catherine Wetton. “She doesn’t need it and I can’t afford to give her money weekly. However we do save up for special things and she gets a treat when we can afford it.”
Other parents on Facebook said pocket money in their household was only given in replacement for chores. Mum Martyna Dowdell wrote: “My son is five and earns 20p if he makes his bed up. He never does.”
And Emma Edwards said: “My 11-year-old can earn £5 a week as long as he does all his chores every day. No chores no money. My nine-year-old can earn £3 a week if she does hers all week.”
How much pocket money do you give your child each week? Is £5 too much? Let us know by commenting below or emailing ukparents@huffpost.com.
