Today’s kids earn £1,692.60 in lifetime pocket money

Youngsters have been earning pocket money for years, however today it seems to be higher than ever on parents’ agenda with searches for ‘pocket money chores list’ increasing by 600% during the pandemic. In light of this, a new study by comparethemarket.com reveals how the world of pocket money has changed over the decades, looking at amounts paid and kids’ spending habits compared to their parents.

Findings suggest children today are given an average of £4.65 a week, working out at £241.80 in pocket money every year. With kids typically receiving cash between the ages of seven and 14, this equates to total earnings of £1,692.60 per child.

But it seems today’s generation fare substantially worse off than their parents did when they were kids. In today’s money, parents received a weekly average of £10.38 when they were younger – that’s equivalent to a staggering £3,778.32 over the seven years, and £2,085.72 more than their children.

The study also looked at how children have earned their pocket money over the years. While achieving good grades and doing chores remain just as important now as they did when today’s parents were earning pocket money, it seems nowadays youngsters also receive monetary rewards for looking after pets, while parents had more emphasis on good deeds for loved ones.

The top five ways today’s children earn their pocket money:

Good grades (42%)
Helping with household chores e.g., washing up and hoovering (41%)
Doing homework (35%)
Good behaviour e.g. no arguing or tantrums (26%)
Looking after pets (16%)
The top five ways parents earned their pocket money:

Helping with household chores e.g., mowing the lawn (40%)
Good grades (34%)
Doing homework (25%)
Good behaviour e.g., no speaking back (24%)
Doing good deeds for others e.g. helping with a family member (18%)
When it comes to what children spend their pocket money on, this has remained largely the same, with nearly half (45%) of children and parents (41%) buying sweets and snacks. While 18% of today’s kids purchase toys such as trinkets, a similar proportion of parents (16%) opted for video games back in the day.

Interestingly, 16% of children today save their pocket money to put towards bigger ticket items, compared to 12% of parents. What’s more, 9% of children today save their money for the future.

comparethemarket.com also noticed some significant differences in the amount of pocket money being gifted across the UK’s largest cities. It seems Manchester is the place to be for kids, with parents there shelling out the most at £270.92 per year, followed by London at £267.28. Youngsters living in Birmingham earn themselves £221, while kids in Leeds earn £209.04 and Sheffield’s parents give out the least, at £176.80 per year.

Setting children chores for money in return is a great way to educate them on the importance of saving and spending sensibly, as James Padmore, head of money at comparethemarket.com, explains: “If your child wants to buy a new game but spends their pocket money on sweets, this is a great opportunity to teach them about the value of saving. If there’s something they want in particular, educate them on how long it may take for them to be able to afford it and to keep their money to one side until they can make the purchase.

“This way, they’ll have something to work towards and they’ll be able to make a more informed choice as to whether they want to spend some of their money each week or put it all into savings for the more expensive items they want.”