RoosterMoney, the pocket money app, reveals that kids received an impressive £321 pocket money (£6.18 a week) last year, and encouragingly they saved 37% of it.
For the most part, children’s savings are generally in line with adult saving rates, which also reached record levels of 28.1% during the Covid-19 pandemic. This willingness to save means that children are picking up lasting money habits from as young as 7 years old, with statistics showing that a strong pocket money routine is a great way to build positive money habits early on, lockdown, or no lockdown.
Key stats from the survey include:
- 66% of parents gave regular pocket money last year
- Kids received £52 in cash gifts this Christmas
- The highest-earning chores were ‘washing the car’, ‘mowing the lawn’, & ‘washing windows’
And when it came to spending that money, it was video games such as Roblox and Fortnite that were top of the spending charts as children spend more time at home. Lego sets were also popular, with Star Wars, Harry Potter and Lego Friends the favourites. Still, on average it took children around 45 days to reach a saving goal.
Children were also keen on gifting their money, with cash going towards children’s charities, animal welfare and cancer research.
| Pocket Money Spending Charts 2020 (vs 2019): | |
2019:
| 2020:
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Meanwhile, holidays and bikes fall down in the rankings.
- Lego Sets (-)
- Phones (-)
- Roblox (new)
- Fortnite (new)
- Nintendo Switch (-2)
- PlayStation (+2)
- Books & Magazines (-2)
- Holidays (-4, biggest drop)
- Bikes (-3)
- Xbox (-)
And families embraced chore routines as lockdowns kicked in with each chore earning on average:
- Washing the car, £2.94
- Mowing the lawn, £2.69
- Washing windows, £1.80
- Raking leaves, £1.73
- Looking after the cat, £1.45
- Cleaning the bedroom, £1.36
- Cleaning the bathroom, £1.35
- Gardening, £1.28
- Mopping, £1.24
- Vacuuming, £1.91
However, the most entrepreneurial age group were found to be 10-year-olds – who boosted their income by selling old games and books, averaging £18.76 per sale.
Will Carmichael, RoosterMoney CEO said: “The Pocket Money Index can often provide a fascinating reflection of what’s going on in the wider world. The pandemic has shifted most of our spending online and that’s seen clearly here with kids’ spending habits too. It’s also really encouraging to see the saving rates remain so high.
Now more than ever, building financial capability into our kids is so incredibly important. The financial impact of this crisis has the potential to affect us for a generation – perhaps several. Having confidence with money, building positive habits around saving and learning to make considered spending choices will be something that sticks with kids for life.”
All data taken from the Pocket Money Index, sampling 70,000 RoosterMoney users, covering 01/01/20 to 01/01/21.
