Boys and the children of single parents receive larger allowances
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By Mari Manninen
Weekly allowances have not risen much over the past few years, but parents have become more generous in giving their children money for larger one-time purchases.
These are the conclusions made by Professor Terhi-Anna Wilska based on several surveys. Wilska, from the Turku School of Economics, has studied extensively the way teenagers spend money.
Pocket money is distributed tightly, because modern parents want to raise their children's awareness as consumers.
The size of weekly allowances grows with age. Teens also receive monthly allowances, as well as pocket money from relatives and friends of the family. 14-year-olds have an average of ten euros to spend per week, and 16-year-olds enjoy an average allowance of 15 euros.
Boys receive more generous allowances than girls. Wilska muses that parents may unconsciously feel that the expenses of boys are more useful than those of girls.
Boys may spend their money on computer games, girls on make-up.
Wilska believes that the flow of money from grandparents to their grandchildren has become significant. She uses this argument to explain the result of one survey that found that the children of single parents have more money at their disposal than others.
According to a survey conducted by Nordea, children between the ages of seven and seventeen received an average of 500 euros during the year 2002.
The money was spent on treats such as candy, potato chips, and hamburgers, as well as on magazines and music. The older teens spend more on clothes and their mobile phones. According to the Nordea survey, three in four teens also save a part of their allowances.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 28.9.2005
More on this subject:
 Schoolchildren are after more and more expensive gizmos - and their parents are frustrated
FACTFILE: Teen favourites
MARI MANNINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
mari.manninen@hs.fi
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