Aussie kids getting a free ride

POCKET MONEY FOR NOTHING

MOST Australian kids are getting handed pocket money without doing a scrap of work, new research has shown.

About 56 per cent don’t lift a finger yet still get handed money, exclusive new results in a News Corp study of more than 1200 parents has found.

And about 30 per cent of children are under the illusion money comes from somewhere other than hard work — including parents, the bank or even the supermarket.

But the Barefoot Investor, Scott Pape, believes the secret to success when teaching kids about money is making sure they handle physical cash.

The rise in “tap and go” at the checkout has made it tougher for kids to understand; his method of using jam jars to save their money, then later graduating to accounts, makes it real.

“It’s more important now with money becoming invisible so for me using jam jars makes sense,” Pape said.

“They want to see the money and have a direct link between work and the money piling up.”

Pape is today releasing his new book, The Barefoot Investor for Families: The Only Kids Money Guide You’ll Ever Need

“A lot of parents are sporadic with their pocket money, in my view kids need to do jobs and if they don’t do the jobs they don’t get paid.” SCOTT PAPE

— and is hoping it will arm parents and grandparents with the necessary skills to make kids money-smart.

He said his simplistic three jam jar policy — including a spend, smile and give jar — will help put Aussie kids in good financial stead.

“A lot of parents are sporadic with their pocket money, in my view kids need to do jobs and if they don’t do the jobs they don’t get paid,” Pape said.

“It’s really easy to do, it doesn’t matter how much you pay them, for some families it could be a dollar per age per week, so $6 per week for a sixyear-old.”

The survey also showed 82 per cent of parents believe kids should be taught about money at school and in the home.

Mother-of-two Georgie Gonczi said her sons, Monty, 7, and Louis, 4, must do jobs around the home to earn cash.

“We only give them pocket money when they do jobs and the most they can get is $5 for washing the car inside and out,” she said. “We also encourage them to save some of their money and leave some in their piggy bank.”

The rise in use of credit cards has also left Australians owing more than $51.6 billion on plastic and more than $32.6 billion is accruing interest.

Yet despite seeing their parents use them, many children don’t understand how credit cards work.

About 76 per cent of parents wish they were taught more about money when they were younger.

The Barefoot Investor For Families, by Scott Pape, is published by HarperCollins Australia and is in bookstores from today.