teethA new survey has revealed that the average American child under the age of 10 is handed $1,360 per year by their parents, either as allowance, rewards for good behavior or achievements and bribes to ‘be good’.  

A leading coupon brand has revealed that the average child under the age of 10 in the US receives $1,360 per year, or the equivalent of $113 per month, from their parents in the form of allowance, bribes to get them to behave better and rewards for good behavior or achievements.

The survey, conducted by www.vouchercloud.net, was part of the company’s wider research into money management amongst young people, to investigate at what age citizens become financially astute and independent. 2,174 respondents took part in the survey, all of whom had children who were between the ages of five and ten years old at the time of the study.

The respondents were initially asked “Do you give your child money regularly?” to which the majority, 71%, confirmed that they did. The survey then asked the parents to state what they tended to give their children money for and asked them to select all relevant answers from a list, which revealed the following top five answers:

  1.  Monthly allowance – 77%
  2.  Rewards for good behavior/achievements – 61%
  3.  Bribes to make them behave/be good – 55%
  4.  Special occasions (birthday, Christmas) – 46%
  5.  In exchange for chores – 44%

The survey then sought to establish how much money children under the age of 10 receive from their parents each month, for whatever reason, which revealed an average answer of $113.00 per month; or $1,360 per year.

All relevant respondents were asked “How do you feel about the amount of money that you give to your children?” to which two thirds, 65%, stated that they would rather give their child less money. These parents were then asked why they gave their child more money than they would like to, to which the majority (45%) stated that they feel ‘in competition with other parents’. A quarter (24%) confirmed that they ‘don’t want to disappoint’ their child, while a further 17% stated that their child ‘likes expensive things and needs enough to buy them’.

“It’s difficult to dictate to a parent how much money they should or shouldn’t give to their children. The Mom and Dad know best but, to an outsider, $1,360 seems an awful lot of money for a kid that’s not even in the double digits yet! Children might want expensive things, but they also need to learn that they have to earn them and be patient!”

“A lot of the time, when parents spend substantial sums of money on the children, it suggests they feel guilty or are trying to make up for something, perhaps a busy work schedule or they have spent less hours in the home than they’d like. Money really isn’t the most important thing and, although of course you don’t want your children to fall behind the other kids in the schoolyard, quality time is the most important thing. If you’re playing with them, nine times out of ten they won’t care if they are playing with an iPad or a yo-yo.”