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Children shoulder parents’ money worries

Your Money
Written By:
Your Money
Posted:
Updated:
05/07/2013

Children as young as eight are shouldering their parents’ money worries, says a new report.

According to Halifax, children are much more aware of their parents’ own money worries than parents are of their children’s. 

Nearly nine in ten children aged eight to fifteen say that their parents worry about money, which the report said is an accurate reflection of the 92% of parents who admit to being concerned about their finances.

But the study also highlighted that the number of parents who actually realise that their children are aware of the financial tension around them is much lower.

Six in ten children admitted to worrying about money themselves, but just over a third of parents thought this affects their child.

However, the study also found an appetite from children to learn more about finance and 78% of parents said that they would feel confident in teaching their children about money.

More children (59%) said that they would prefer to learn about finance form their parents than from any other source (21% teachers, 7% internet), with savings (63%) topping the list of things that they would like to learn about, followed by bank accounts (57%) and credit cards (20%).

Richard Fearon, head of Halifax Savings, said: “It’s encouraging that that so many parents feel confident in teaching their children about finance. As parents, we try and protect our children from the things that worry us but sometimes it can be more beneficial to talk through financial concerns as a way to help children better understand money and put things into perspective.

“We know that children are very aware of the behaviour of people around them and by having discussions about money from an early age children will be much better placed to know how to manage their money as they grow up.”

The research also revealed that parents are more likely to borrow money and lend money than their children. Dads are also twice as likely to borrow from their own kids than the mums.