But the average age for children to get their first mobile is 11 years and 8 months – soon after starting secondary school.

The study by comparison site uSwitch.com found the average parent will spend £246 on their own handset, while they will only fork out an average £125 on their kids’ phones

However, 15% of kids under 16 have mobiles worth more than their parents’.

When it comes to first mobiles, oldest siblings get more spent on them.

Parents with more than one child spend on average 15% more on their first-born’s first handset than on their second born.

Mums and dads also spend more on their first child’s phone bills – shelling out £12 per month on their oldest child’s bill compared to £11 for their second child.

While parents spend £19 per month on average on their own pay-monthly mobile deals, they spend just £11 per month on average on each of their children’s bills.

More than four in ten parents (42%) don’t monitor what their children spend.

Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch.com, said: “As well as arming kids with mobiles for emergencies and peace of mind, I’d imagine that many parents have bought their kids smartphones just to stop them commandeering their own when bored. Smartphones are getting more affordable all the time, with entry-level models costing as little as £7 per month with a free phone or £29.99 for a SIM-free handset.

“So if you do give in to your kids’ requests, asking networks to place caps on their mobile bills takes about five minutes and is a very sensible precaution, especially if your child has a data-hungry smartphone. Make sure that when they’re at home, your kids are browsing the web using Wi-Fi instead of consuming data by connecting to the internet via 3G or 4G.”