How much pocket money will be in 2024 and where will kids be spending it? New data reveals all
Bhuvisha Patel, Money Team
Data shows that despite pocket money shrinking, kids are finding new ways to buy everyday “essentials.”
From the data NatWest pocket money index It found (looking at 308,000 children’s transactions on the Rooster app) that just 30% of families now pay an allowance regularly (down 2%), and that children receive on average £3.78 a week (10p down on last year).
In fact, pocket money now accounts for just 14% of children’s income. Instead, children are finding new sources of income, with the typical child earning £479.96 a year (£9.23 a week) from occasional household chores or starting their own business.
These “salaries” obviously vary by age group…
- 5.68 pounds for a 6 year old
- £24.71 for 17 year olds
Children in the UK are now paying extra for household chores and earning more money with second jobs.
- Car cleaning earns an average of £3.25 – 32% (79p) more than a year ago
- Newspaper delivery income increased by 2% (45p) to £23.10 a week.
- However, it hasn’t been a great year for the resale business, with revenues falling 15% to £22.62 a week.
Perhaps the most interesting piece of data is where kids are spending their money.
Amazon came out on top, followed by Tesco and McDonald’s, followed by Primark, The Co-op, PlayStation, Xbox, Sainsbury’s and Asda, but this year there is no room for Apple, with fashion brand Shein making it into the top 10 instead.
NatWest Rooster Money said “the way children spend their money is changing forever”…
“Children are increasingly [pocket money] In other, more sophisticated ways. This move towards greater financial independence and maturity is a great sign and bodes well for a brighter, more financially confident future.”
Will Carmichael, CEO and founder of NatWest Rooster Money
As an example of this maturity, children have a savings rate of 9.5%, not far behind the adult average of 10.2%. The top three motivators for saving are gaming, vacations, and the future, in that order.
Is there a right answer?
Kirsty Ketley, a parenting expert from Surrey, said she gives £5 a week in cash to her 11-year-old daughter Ella and £2 to her seven-year-old son Leo.
Both of them started receiving pocket money when they were six years old.
“I always tell parents that it’s OK to start giving their kids an allowance even as young as 4 because learning how to manage money is such an important life skill. You can’t be taught how to manage money,” she said.
Presenter and children’s author Connie Hack, who has two sons, Covey, 12, and Huxley, 10, told Money magazine that giving kids a regular allowance is a “really good way” to help them develop the habit of earning and spending money.
She said receiving a regular allowance helps teach children “responsibility” and “financial literacy.”
“That’s what they’re going to do when they become adults,” she says. “I always say that kids are shaped and molded between the ages of zero and seven. You want to instill in them at this young age the values that they’re going to carry with them for the rest of their lives.”
Sharon Olivero Chapman, CEO and founder of Harlequin Health, disagrees. She has always thought giving regular allowances was “the wrong message to send to kids,” and her 13-year-old daughter, Harriet, is one of the many people earning big bucks from side hustles.
“Children get the wrong idea about money when they receive an allowance,” she says. “It’s just money on a plate, and that’s not real life, is it?”
Olivero Chapman said if her daughter wanted to buy something she had to figure out how to get the money and get her to do chores to earn that money – she said it cost £1 to empty and load the dishwasher, £1 to load and empty the washing machine and 50p to make the bed.
“It’s not something we do regularly every week,” she explained.
Ms Olivero-Chapman said the family’s entrepreneurial spirit has rubbed off on Harriet, who last year started her own Etsy store selling customised phone cases, which has so far made nearly £1,000.
Your pocket money story – how much, how and in return
Scotland, Darsen
Aga Darsun, 41, a PMO analyst from Erskine, gives her son Garip, 13, £3 a day and her son Troy, nine, £1 a day into a Sterling account, and gives them both £20 each on payday. They do no housework.
“It gives the children a lot of freedom and also teaches them the value of money – if they want a more expensive pair of trainers, for example, they have to save up,” she says.
“Most of my money is spent on the game and it’s heartbreaking.”
The Shows, London
Sammy Shaw, from Enfield, said he uses his NatWest Rooster Money card to give £3.50 a week to his eight-year-old twins Teddy and Hope.
To earn money, her son and daughter are tasked with certain activities that they must complete, or the money is deducted.
“My two kids have an insane amount of responsibilities. First they have to make their beds and get dressed. Then they come downstairs and practice on the keyboard for 10 minutes, then they do Times Tables Rock Stars (a digital maths app), then they read for 10 minutes.”
“Parents must go into the app and approve these activities, and if they don’t carry out the activity, the discount will be applied.”
Last year the twins saved up to buy theatre tickets for the family at £35 a ticket.
The Legulskis, Wales
In Caerphilly, Dean Legurski, 44, lives a very similar life – he is paid for washing, ironing, walking the dog, washing up and vacuuming. He and his wife also use Rooster and pay £10 a week for their children Emeline, Nancy and Abraham, aged between 12 and 15.
“Whenever a customer wants to make a deal, I get a notification on my phone and I can have a conversation about what they’re buying straight away. I can also limit the transaction to £1 on the app if it’s just sweets,” Dean says.
“The other day my son asked me if he could buy something over £40 and I told him he could pay next month but it would cost extra on household chores. I explained the concept of interest to him.”
Moors, West Midlands
Ben Moore, 40, from Solihull, said his twin 13-year-old daughters had been receiving £5 pocket money every week for the past two years.
They used GoHenry before switching to debit cards.
“We spent a year on GoHenry, which was good because it allowed us to limit the types of spending we were doing, like, ‘I can’t spend it at McDonald’s,’ but it did come with a monthly fee,” he said.
Housework isn’t a duty because he “really wants” his daughters to use the money to “go out with their friends, not just sit around on their phones.”
House of Scott, Wiltshire
Fiona Scott, 58, from Swindon, Wiltshire, said her three children – Samantha, 24, Georgia, 22, and David, 17 – received pocket money until they were old enough to earn their own money.
“We’ve always had a little planner at home with income, expenses and how much we spend, so I’ve encouraged my children to do it in different ways. They’re used to seeing and understanding the budget,” she said.
The Jones family, West Midlands
Jenny Jones, 43, a mother of three, said her 11-year-old daughter Rebecca receives £10 a month and is not allowed to do household chores but everyone is expected to pitch in.
Jones started with 50p a week when she was seven, but when she was 11 she opened a junior account with Barclays into which money was deposited every month.
“She’s learned how to manage money in general. Now she loves buying bubble tea and jewelry, so she needs to think about what she wants and whether she can buy both. She can make those decisions.”
“That’s a life lesson right? You can’t have everything you want, so you have to make decisions. And it’s okay to make the wrong decisions, that’s normal.”