If my kids are being really well-behaved, have done their homework and not made me yell too much, I give them $2 on a Friday to splurge at the school tuckshop.
For two bucks they can get a bag of seaweed snacks, a frozen fruit popsicle or an “energy ball” and a bag of popcorn. Long gone are days of the Paddle Pop at lunchtime.
Last week, my eight-year-old called his younger brother an “idiot” so he missed out. The younger brother, who, truth be told, was being a bit of a twat, missed out too on account of his idiotic behaviour.
This week they’ve done okay so they’ll probably get that shining gold coin to spend up big.
I always thought I was being generous, in fact I even wondered whether I was being extravagant giving them a gold coin every week but it turns out my lot are at the lower end of the pocket money spectrum when it comes to Australian kids.
A survey has shown that Aussie kids are given $1.8 billion annually in pocket money. The Cartoon Network’s annual “New Generations” study has found that parents are giving their children on average $556 a year.
A separate survey showed that children’s pocket money changes according to where they live – with kids on the Sunshine Coast getting around $40 a week.
That’s over $2000 a year, and makes for a hell of a lot of mixed lollies.
Who we pay and the amount seems to mirror society.
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