The teens bribed to be on time

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.

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 the former head of public school Harrow School warned that some youngsters are using it to buy drugs such as tranquilliser Xanax online.