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Kids prefer piggy bank to parents

Children would rather put their cash in a piggy bank than give it to their parents to keep, says a new survey. Only 18% of seven to 11-year-olds said they would trust their parents to save for them. Some even feared that mum and dad would spend the money by mistake.

Over 40% said they saved in a traditional piggy bank or money box, the poll for the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) and HSBC Bank found. Overall, three-quarters of the age group said they were saving money. One in 10 were putting money to one side for university, a house or a car in the future.

The educational consultancy EdComs questioned 1,369 children aged between seven and 11 for the survey. Follow up focus groups were conducted with pupils in Birmingham, Bristol, Surrey and York. In conjunction with the survey, HSBC Bank and Pfeg have launched an education scheme, ‘What Money Means’, to teach children how to manage their finances.

Wendy van den Hende, chief executive of Pfeg, said: “Even by the age of seven, children are aware of the impact of money in their lives. Learning how to respect and manage money in their early years will give them the confidence to make responsible financial decisions as adults.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .