Pocket Money in the UK: What's 'Normal' and How to Structure It

There’s no official rule for how much pocket money a UK child should get, but current survey data gives a genuinely useful benchmark - and how you structure it may matter more than the exact amount.

Current UK average pocket money by age

According to NatWest Rooster Money’s Pocket Money Index, average weekly pocket money in the UK is:

• Age 6 (a common starting age): £2.81 a week
• Age 9: £3.13 a week
• Age 16: £6.59 a week
• Age 17: £8.31 a week

These are national averages, and actual amounts vary considerably by region, household income, and family preference - useful as a rough benchmark rather than a target to match exactly.

Fixed amount vs tied to chores

There’s a genuine, ongoing debate among parenting and financial education experts about whether pocket money should be an unconditional allowance or tied to specific chores (see our dedicated article weighing the pros and cons of this specific question in more depth) - both approaches are common in the UK, and neither is clearly ‘correct’ for every family.

The ‘three jars’ (or three-way split) approach

A widely used structure divides pocket money into three categories - commonly spend, save, and give (or share) - helping children understand from an early age that money isn’t purely for immediate spending. The specific proportions matter less than the habit of routinely allocating money across different purposes rather than treating it all as available to spend immediately.

Should pocket money increase automatically with age?

Most families do increase pocket money as children get older, reflecting both greater independence and rising costs of what children want to buy for themselves - but tying increases to a specific event (a birthday, moving to secondary school) rather than an ad hoc renegotiation avoids the awkwardness of repeated requests for more.

Where to actually keep it

For younger children, a physical piggy bank or jar system makes the ‘spend, save, give’ split tangible and visible. As children get slightly older, a children’s bank account or prepaid card suited to their age introduces the more abstract concept of a balance that isn’t physically visible as cash.

What pocket money is (and isn’t) meant to teach

Pocket money’s educational value comes from giving a child a genuinely limited, personally controlled amount to make real decisions with - including the freedom to make a spending mistake with a small, low-stakes sum, which is far more valuable as a learning experience than a parent making every spending decision on the child’s behalf.

A practical starting framework

• Start around age 5-7, roughly in line with when most UK children begin receiving pocket money.
• Use the national average figures as a loose benchmark, adjusting for your own household circumstances and values rather than treating them as a fixed target.
• Decide upfront how increases will be handled (birthdays, school transitions) to avoid ongoing renegotiation.
• Introduce a simple spend/save/give structure early, even if the specific proportions evolve as the child gets older.

The bottom line

There’s no single ‘correct’ pocket money amount, but current UK averages (roughly £2.80-£3.15 a week for younger children, rising to £6.50-£8.30 a week for older teenagers) give a useful benchmark. How the money is structured - a simple spend/save/give split, and clear expectations about how it changes over time - tends to matter more for building genuine financial understanding than the exact figure chosen.