Numerous parents are taking money from their children secretly. A new survey in England found that almost half of parents sometimes steal from their kids' piggy banks to pay for meager expenses.
The Nationwide Building Society, a British mutual financial institution, conducted the survey. Around 46 percent of parents of children ages 4 to 16 confessed that they are piggy bank raiders. The average sum dipped from the child's savings is £21.41 ($31.41), the Guardian reported.
The months following Christmas are when it's more common for parents to raid their children's savings. The survey found that mothers are more frequent piggy bank raiders, but fathers tend to take more money from their child's savings.
Where Does The Money Go?
Piggy bank raiders used the money to pay a bill and school lunch money. Some parents used it for school trips, parking fees, haircuts, gas money, window cleaners and bus fares, among others, the Guardian listed.
A whopping 93 percent of the piggy bank raiders said they returned the money they took from their child's savings while only 39 percent of the kids noticed that some of their cash disappeared. One-third of the parents surveyed admitted to their child that they borrowed money from them, and 23 percent surreptitiously returned the cash they owed. Some parents (one in seven) even put interest to the money they took.
Children Urged To Save More Money
Teaching financial responsibility to children at such a young age will help them manage their money in the future. In Savannah, Georgia, a big financial firm set up an event to help children save and gain knowledge about finances.
Last month, Wells Fargo Personal Banker Katherine Roberts paid a visit to students at Jenkins High School to teach them about budgeting, saving and recognizing needs versus wants, WSAV.com reported.
Only 17 U.S. states require high school students to study a course in personal finance. According to the Council for Economic Education, that number didn't change since 2014.
Parents are the first ones to influence their children about money and financial management, Forbes wrote. It's important that kids understand that their parents can't buy them anything they want from a store.
Teaching a child to have a goal, like buying a toy, also helps as long as the item is not expensive so it wouldn't take months before the kids can purchase it. Children tend to get frustrated when they have to wait long before getting their hands on a toy they wish to buy.
