In this article
There is no official UK pocket money rate - but the data gives honest ranges: around £2-£5 a week for under-10s, £4-£7 for 10 to 12s, and £6-£15 for teenagers, with the total including chore money averaging between £9 and £11 a week. The amount matters less than the structure: fixed, predictable, and divided into spending, saving and giving from day one.
The short version
- A regular set allowance averages around £3.85 a week; total weekly income including extras averages £9.13.
- Earning climbs with age - from under £3 a week at 6 to £8-£24 a week by 17, depending what you count.
- Most families now blend a base allowance with paid tasks - around £1 per chore is typical.
- Cash and jars beat apps under about 10; apps beat cash for visibility at secondary school.
- The split - spend, save, give - teaches more than the total, whatever the total is.
"How much should I give?" is really two questions in a trench coat. The first is practical: what is normal, so your child is neither unusually rich nor unusually short at the school gate. The second is the one that actually matters: what should the money be for? This guide answers both, with the real UK numbers first - including what they can and cannot tell you.
What the data actually says
Two large UK datasets are worth knowing, and they measure different things:
The set allowance: about £3.85 a week
NatWest Rooster Money's Pocket Money Index (350,000+ child accounts, March 2024 to February 2025) found parents who set a regular allowance pay about £3.85 a week on average - from £2.81 at age 6 up to £8.31 at 17. About 27% of families on the app set one up.
Total income: about £9-£11 a week
The same study found children's total money - allowance plus chore money and other top-ups - averages £9.13 a week (£474.76 a year). GoHenry's 2025 data, from its own app users, puts the average weekly amount at £10.73, up about 8% on the previous year.
Chores pay about £1 a task
GoHenry's 2025 figures show an average of £1.00 paid per task: tidying the bedroom is the most common job at £1.12, while the best-paid chore - looking after plants - earns £1.91. Being good (£1.46) and practising music (£1.44) round out the top earners.
One honest caveat: both datasets come from families using money apps, so they lean towards households already engaged with money habits - real UK averages across everyone will sit somewhat lower. Treat the numbers as a well-informed middle, not a rule. Interesting detail from the same data: girls receive slightly more than boys on average (£10.81 vs £10.63), and regional differences are large.
How much, by age
These ranges sit in the middle of what the data shows, with room for what your household can afford. They are typical, not official - and a family giving £2 a week with a strong saving habit is doing better than one giving £15 with none.
Two things that consistently work better than a bigger number: paying monthly rather than weekly from about 12 (planning a fortnight is the real skill), and keeping the amount predictable - a child who never knows when money arrives cannot learn to budget, only to ask.
Chores, rewards and buying money
The old debate - allowance or earned money - is settled in most real households with a blend, and the data agrees: regular allowances plus ad-hoc task pay. A sensible structure:
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A small unconditional base, so they always have money to plan with - saving decisions cannot be practised if the money can be withheld.
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A short list of paid tasks on top, around £1 each, posted where everyone can see it. Rate the ones nobody wants to do slightly higher - that is how markets work.
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Never pay for grades or eating dinner. It teaches the wrong currency for the things that matter most.
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Let them negotiate. A child who argues calmly for a pay rise on the bin job has just practised their first salary conversation.
The task rates in the app data - around £1 for tidying, up to £1.91 for plant care - are a good calibration point for what children are actually paid in UK homes right now.
Weekly, monthly, cash or app?
Weekly until about 12, then monthly
A week is long enough to plan at primary age. At secondary, a monthly payment forces the lesson every family wants them to learn: make it last.
Cash and jars under about 10
Physical coins teach what money actually is in a way a balance never will. Three jars - spend, save, give - with the saving goal written on the jar.
Apps and accounts from secondary school
Children's bank accounts and pocket money apps give visibility without interrogation: children see balances and goals, and parents can see patterns instead of asking. Many families keep the jar habit as three mental accounts even after the coins go.
Whatever you choose, same time every week
Predictability is the habit-former. Payday day - same day, no renegotiation - is what turns pocket money into a lesson rather than a transaction.
Making it actually teach something
The amount is the least important number. These are the habits that turn £4 a week into financial confidence:
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Split it the day it arrives. Spend, save, give - the classic split, because it forces one decision before any spending happens. Under 10, use jars. Over 10, use the same three categories in an app.
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Name the saving goal. 'Saving' is not motivating. '£14 for the headphones by February' is. Write the goal on the jar or set it in the app, then let the tracker do the nagging for you.
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Let them feel a mistake. A £5 disappointment at 9 is the cheapest financial education available. Do not rescue it; debrief it instead - what would you do differently?
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Let them earn extra on purpose. Beyond chores, small ventures count double: a bake sale, a car wash, selling outgrown things. Earning changes how children treat money more than any allowance ever does.
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The money jars game – spend, save, give and invest decisions, free, for younger children.
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How to talk about money – five ways to make money a normal topic at home instead of a taboo.
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Teaching money by age – what money concepts children can grasp at each age, with activities.
When they ask for a pay rise
It will happen, usually around 11-13. Resist the reflex refusal - a pay-rise conversation handled well is a negotiation masterclass. The structure that works:
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Ask for the case, not the feeling. 'Everyone gets more' is a feeling; 'my shoes cost £30 and I save £2 a week towards them' is a case. Require the case.
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Tie it to real costs or real output. Rises follow either prices going up or responsibilities going up. Your child naming which one happened is the whole lesson.
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Trade, do not gift. 'Yes, and the bins move to you' makes it a raise, not a rescue. This is exactly how raises work outside the house too.
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Give it a review date. Three months. A number with a review date teaches that pay follows proof - the second-most useful thing they will ever learn about money.
Whichever number you land on, the point was never the pounds. It was a child who, by 16, can plan a month, price a job, survive a mistake and ask for what they are worth. Pocket money is where all four get practised first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average pocket money in the UK?
It depends what you count. Recent UK data from money apps suggests a regular set allowance averages around £3.85 per week, while the total children receive - including chore money and ad-hoc top-ups - averages between roughly £9 and £11 per week depending on the study. Both figures come from families using money apps, so they skew slightly towards households that already engage with money management.
How much pocket money should a 10 year old get?
A common range for 10-12 year olds is £4-£7 per week, which sits around the middle of what UK app data shows children of that age receiving. The exact number matters less than the structure: a fixed amount at a fixed time, divided between spending, saving and something for others, is worth more than an extra pound a week.
Should pocket money be tied to chores?
Most UK families now blend the two: a small unconditional allowance so children learn to plan with money, plus paid tasks on top so they learn that effort earns. Chore rates in the app data average around £1 per task. What matters is that some money is neither earned nor taken away, so saving decisions can be practised without fear.
Is cash or a pocket money app better?
Cash is best for learning what money physically is, especially under 10. Apps are better for visibility: children see balances, set goals and parents can see spending without interrogating them. A common path is cash coins and jars for primary age, then an app or children's bank account around secondary school, with the jars habit carried over as three mental accounts.
When should I start giving pocket money?
Most families start around ages 5 to 7, once a child can count and understands that coins are exchanged for things. Starting small matters more than starting early - even £1 a week divided into three jars teaches the core habit, and the amount can grow with the child.
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