Parents opt for savings over pocket money

Almost half of parents do not give their children pocket money, instead preferring to contribute to savings for their child's future.



As part of its Three Generation Britain (3GB) research, Engage Mutual Assurance questioned 948 parents with children aged under 16, finding that with young adults facing increased costs for education and house prices, many parents preferred to set up savings for their children.

Parents in the north-east were most likely to give their children pocket money (65 per cent), while those in the West Country were least likely to do so (39 per cent).

Only 34 per cent of parents who gave children pocket money in the last six months also made regular payments into savings accounts for their kids, with 41 per cent of parents making payments into a child's savings account in the last six months.

Karl Elliott, 3GB spokesperson for Engage Mutual Insurance, said: "Giving younger children pocket money not only helps to educate them about the value of money, but also teaches them important life skills such as saving and budgeting.

"On the other hand it is also important that parents invest money for their children's future. By contributing little and often to government Child Trust Funds, parents and other relatives could save a useful sum tax free to help their children get a foot on the ladder when they reach adulthood."

Personal wealth of over-50s 'bigger than GDP of nearly every nation'

The personal household wealth of those aged over 50 has grown by 45.6 per cent in the past five years to reach more than five trillion pounds, a new report claims.

According to the report from Abbey Savings, this means that the personal wealth of this age group is greater than the annual GDP of every nation except the USA.

It is even larger than the combined GDPs of Germany, the UK and France, with this age group owning almost 75 per cent of Britain's wealth.

This segment presently comprises 34 per cent of the population, but in 25 years time, is expected to account for 43 per cent of the population.

Abbey calculates that if personal wealth continues to grow at rates seen in the last five years, this group will hold personal wealth worth £40 trillion by 2043, which is six times the current annual US GDP.

Reza Attar-Zadeh, head of savings at Abbey, said: "The 50-plus segment of society is already transforming the way we live and work. They hold 60 per cent of all savings and are responsible for over 40 per cent of all consumer demand."

However, despite this age group holding so much in savings, earlier research from the firm discovered that 4.5 million people aged over 55 and 4.8 million aged 45 to 54 have not yet put a savings plan in place for retirement.

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