Inflation hits pocket money

The chores don’t seem to have changed, but research shows that kids are earning three times more pocket money than their parents did.

New data from Westpac has revealed that more than half (55 per cent) of Australian children aged eight to 17 years earn pocket money for doing chores at home, with parents handing over an average of $25 per week – in most cases that’s triple* the amount they received as a child.

Westpac Managing Director Everyday Banking Chris Brell says parents balancing a family budget on a daily basis know firsthand how important it is to understand money – and are giving their children pocket money to teach responsible spending and saving from an early age.

“On average, children are receiving $25 a week in pocket money, close to three times what their own parents earned when they were young – demonstrating parents are prioritising pocket money to help their children and their financial literacy”, Brell adds.

Of the three in four Australian parents giving their children pocket money, three in five do so to teach the value of money (63 per cent) and as an incentive for chores and housework (61 per cent). Nearly half (49 per cent) of Australian parents who give their children pocket money use digital payments.

The survey followed up the launch earlier this year of Westpac’s Chores functionality in the bank’s Family Hub app, which aims to help kids understand the importance of earning money and keep track of their pocket money. The feature allows parents and their children to set up a list of chores; the kids are notified when their chore lists are live, and parents transfer pocket money once the chores are marked as completed, all within the app.

* On average, parents who give their child pocket money give $25.02 a week, whereas they received $9.27 when they were a child