Food takes majority slice of pocket money
sweets, snacks, drinks and takeaways, find new statistics from the
country's national number crunching body, reports Lindsey
Partos.
According to the Office for National Statistics, kids aged between 7 to 15 in the UK spent an average of £13 (€19) a week in 2002-2003 to 2003-04, with food accounting for over 35 per cent of total spending.
While overall girls spend more in a week than boys, £13.60 compared with £12.40, both sexes paid out the same amount on food, £4.60 (€6.85).
Children in the UK have never had it so good, with 31 per cent of them receiving pocket money from both their parents and their grandparents, a factor influenced by the increasing longevity of the older generation, according to market analysts Mintel.
Their data, that concurs with figures from the national statistics body, reveals that children aged 7-14 receive a massive £1.5 billion in pocket money each year, spending a large share of this on food and drink.
But competition is stepping up for the industry, with food and drink products competing with a massive range of items on the market to tempt children, from clothing and computer games to mobile phones and personal care.
Compounding competition is the fact that manufacturers are under pressure to scale down their marketing efforts amid accusations of contributing to the rise in childhood obesity.
But food still has the edge, with 'only' 15 per cent of total spending going towards clothing and footwear ( the second most popular items after food), compared to the 35 per cent spent on sweets, snacks and takeaways.
Within food, children in the 4000 sample taken from across the UK spend 18 per cent (£2.30) on confectionery, snacks and drinks with the remaining 18 per cent going towards takeaways and school dinners.
