Pocket money rate for youngsters falls to £6.20

chores: Number of children expected to work for their pocket money has fallen to 59%

Wages may be rising as the economy picks up, but parents are still putting the squeeze on pocket money as figures show it has fallen by 2.4% in the last year.

The current weekly sum paid to eight to 15-year-olds has fallen to £6.20 compared with £6.35 in 2014, during a period when pay climbed by an average of 2%, according to an annual survey from lender Halifax.

However, the figures indicate that over previous years children have seen much more generous increases in their allowances.

Weekly pocket money has climbed from £1.13 in 1987, a rise of 448% over a period when their parents’ income would have climbed by 193%, meaning increases for children have outpaced those for adults by 255%.

Giles Martin, head of Halifax Savings, said: “Most parents are clearly very generous when it comes to how much pocket money they give their children.”

Past figures showed the biggest hike in pocket money was in 2003 when it doubled to £5.79, and it reached a peak of £8.37 in 2005 before turning lower.

It fell back to £5.89 in 2010, in the wake of the financial crisis.

The latest Halifax data, from a survey of 1,200 children, also showed the number expected to work for their pocket money by doing household chores had fallen to 59% from 65% last year.

Bedroom tidying remains the most common task, followed by washing up, cleaning, and vacuuming.

Mother of two, Susan Fisher, 38, from Fife, said: “I just give my kids money as and when they need it really.

Mother, Emma Davis, 35, from Dundee, said: “My wee one is only six so we don’t really do pocket money just now.

When it comes to pocket money, how much is too much? Kids across the land will doubtless seize upon the latest stats which show weekly pay-outs have fallen despite rising wages. However, parents can very quickly hit back — the figures also reveal pocket money has risen by an eye-watering 448% since 1987, a period during which parental income climbed by a miserly 193%.

Let the arguments begin...