Survey finds 50 per cent of parents borrow from their kids’ savings

May 2016

A recent survey by Nationwide Building Society has discovered that approximately 50 per cent of parents borrow from their kids’ savings to pay for things such as the window cleaner, parking, taxis, takeaways and school trips.

The researchers spoke to 2,000 parents who had children aged between four and 16 and 46 per cent of the participants said that they had dipped into their children’s savings.

Over the course of the last year, the average amount borrowed was £21.41; however, 10 per cent of parents said that they had borrowed £50 or more.

The survey discovered that mothers are the most likely to dip into their kids’ savings than fathers, although, when dads do borrow from their children, it’s often in larger amounts.

Nationwide Building Society also uncovered that the months immediately after Christmas is when parents are most likely to borrow from their children’s savings.

Of the parents who took part in the survey, those who live in Yorkshire and the Humber, South West England and North East England are most likely to dip into their offspring’s savings. On the other hand, those in Wales, London and North West England were the least likely.

Approximately 15 per cent of the parents who borrow from their children’s savings said that they use the money to pay for school lunches. A further 15 per cent said that they use the borrowed money for bills and 11 per cent said that they use the money to pay for school trips. Another 11 per cent said that they use the money for car parking charges.

12 per cent of the parents said that they use the borrowed money for “other” things, such as bus fares, petrol, haircuts, window cleaners, takeaways and the tooth fairy.

93 per cent of the parents said that they pay back the money they borrow, although just 39 per cent said that they children noticed that money had been taken. Just 1 in 3 parents told their children that they had taken money, whereas 23 per cent put the money back into their children’s piggy bank without them noticing.

Of the parents, 1 in 7 said that they paid their child interest.