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Adults make it, kids demand it

A national survey of 1,500 Australians conducted by Kids Money - a publisher of a range of books on the subject - has found that 6 out of 10 parents don’t know how to teach their children about money.

The survey revealed that parents are poorly equipped to handle the ‘I just got to have it now’ pressure placed upon them by their children.

Founder of Kids Money and author Greg Smith, said, “Learning the difference between needs and wants and the value of money is fundamental in this day and age, but it must be done in a way that is engaging, entertaining and most of all educational. Money can be seen to be boring which is why I wrote these books using three very likeable fictional characters to which children can easily relate.”

According to the Financial Literacy Foundation, 95% of children lean on family for financial guidance. Therefore each book has been designed to maximise parental involvement, whether it be reading them to their children or helping them out with the interactive challenges as set by the characters in the book.

WHat is your experience with your kids and those around you?

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Permalink Reply by Kylie on September 12, 2008 at 11:16am

My DD8 is old enough to know that if she does jobs around the house she gets paid.

I have made a chart I place on the fridge with the value for each job written in. When chart was first up, a lot of chores got done and DD got a lot of pocket money, now the novelty has worn off, but this also means I save on pocket money.

My DD has the capacity to make as much money as she needs, so when she asks me to buy something junky for her, I explain that she can save up for it herself, this then gets her thinking about how much she really wants the item, and more often than not it stays in the shop.

I also take 10% of her pocket money to put in the bank as savings and use a savings thermometer to help DD reach her savings goal for next years show, the visual aspect has really helped her tuck her money away.