Why parents are worried about children’s digital money habits

OUR rapid transformation to a cashless society is concerning many parents and increasing the need for new ways to pay children pocket money.

Mums and dads are worried about their children’s understanding of digital money, yet four out of five parents still pay kids using physical cash.

As digital spending surges with apps, tap-and-go technology and other cashless methods, 39 per cent of parents say they are concerned their kids don’t know enough about it, according to new research from financial technology and education business Spriggy.

However, 78 per cent pay cash pocket money, which Spriggy co-founder Mario Hasanakos describes as “such a disconnect”, given that Reserve Bank data shows cash payments dropped from 69 per cent of total payments to 37 per cent between 2007 and 2016.

Mr Hasanakos said while physical money was a great tool for learning early numeracy, today’s way of paying for things was less tangible and children needed to learn spending restraint online.

“I think relevance is so important if you are trying to teach money skills,” he said.

“Our kids live in a different world — there are so many more marketing messages around us.”

Samantha Platten said her daughter Lexi, 9, was paid using digital pocket money 95 per cent of the time.

“Digital money is the near future, so setting kids up with the skills to deal with that early can only benefit them in the future,” she said.

“Teaching them about digital money early can prevent them from getting caught in the plastic trap, as they’ll have an early understanding of the value of money, whether it’s physically in their hands or existing digitally only.”

Mrs Platten said she believed most parents still paid pocket money using cash because it was a habit.

To read more, please click on the link below…

Source: Why parents are worried about children’s digital money habits – news.com.au