Open wide: Milk teeth draw a hefty sum these days. Photograph: Getty
How much did the tooth fairy give you when your first tooth fell out? I don't think I ever found more than 10p under my pillow, but children today receive on average £1.22 when they lose a milk tooth.
That's an increase of 258% over the past 25 years, outstripping the rise in petrol prices.
Peer pressure is playing its part, with a fifth of parents surveyed saying they paid too much, and one in six saying they feel obliged to pay the going rate. As this thread from moneysavingexpert.com shows, there is some debate over what that rate should be.
But David White, chief executive of the Children's Mutual, which carried out the survey, says parents could use the tooth fairy's little gifts to help their children understand "the value of money" and "get into good money habits from an early age".
Milk teeth generally begin falling out when children are around six years old. Is this too young to be worrying about money, or is it never too soon? Did the tooth fairy help your grasp of personal finance?
I don't think I learned much about money management from the tooth fairy. I probably spent my 10p on fizzy spaceship sweets, not exactly a great way of looking after my investments or my teeth. You could buy a lot of sweets for £1.22 - what do today's children spend their mini windfalls on? And is the tooth fairy being too generous?
