Nearly one in five families are bribing their teenage children to get to school on time, a survey has found.
The same proportion dole out money as an incentive for them to behave well in class and to help with chores, according to Santander’s poll of 500 families with children aged up to 15.
The bank found that nearly four out of five parents give their children a basic amount of pocket money. A third, however, make at least some of the payment conditional on behaviour.
Parents are attempting to get their children to study harder and be punctual by bribing them, Santander’s telling new study shows
For this group arriving at school on time commanded a premium of £10 a week on average, with chores such as cleaning a room priced at £5 a week.
Children in London collect an average £26.70 a week in basic pocket money, compared with £18.36 outside the capital, according to the survey. Boys, it found, are paid more to improve their behaviour. A Santander spokesman said: ‘It’s encouraging to see how parents use financial lessons in the home to help their children get to grips with money.’
However, the findings follow concerns some parents are too generous with pocket money.
Last month a leading public school headmaster warned that teenagers with too much money spend in on things that are bad for them, and pointed to evidence of online buying by youngsters of the tranquilliser Xanax.
Teenagers in one in five families are offered money for good behaviour and performance in exams, as well as money for being on time
Barnaby Lenon, former head of Harrow School, said: ‘The way to stamp out all these things is for parents to stop giving their children money,’ he said.. ‘Almost everything that’s bad for them costs money.’
But Hetal Parmar, head of Banking and Savings at Santander, said: ‘It’s encouraging to see how parents use financial lessons in the home to help their children get to grips with money. Teaching children about making the most of their money once they have earned it is also an important life skill.’