The gender pay gap is growing when it comes to how much pocket money children get, with boys 12% better off than girls, it was claimed on Friday.
While boys are handed an average of £6.93 a week by generous payments, girls get £6.16, according to Halifax’s latest pocket money survey. In 2015 the gap was just 2%.
Despite getting much more than the girls, boys were more likely to tell the survey that they thought their pocket money should be increased, with 44% saying they needed a pay rise, versus 39% of girls.
Recent analysis put the gender pay gap in women’s full-time salaries at 24%, with female workers earning £300,000 less than men over their working lives.
Halifax’s survey found that pocket money was at a nine-year high, averaging £6.55 a week – up by 35p on 2015’s figure.
Pocket money was found to be highest in London, with children being given an average of £8.21 a week. In contrast, youngsters in East Anglia were typically handed £4.96 a week.
The study – which has been compiled by Halifax since 1987 – shows that parents, on average, start giving their children pocket money between the age of six and seven.
The average amounts are based on a survey of children aged between eight and 15. On average eight-year-olds received £5.06 while 15-year-olds got £7.85.
Giles Martin, head of Halifax Savings, said: “It’s reassuring to see that the average weekly amount has reached a nine-year high. Some parents are clearly not feeling the pinch in the same way as they have done in recent years, when weekly pocket money dipped as low as £5.89.
“It’s likely it’ll be a few more years until we reach the dizzy heights of £8.37 in 2005 though, when we saw the highest average pocket money since our records began.”
