Sweets and snacks lure children to lighten pockets |
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Thu, 09 Jun 2005 20:50
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If you’re under the impression that today’s tech-savvy children empty their piggy banks and pockets mainly to satisfy their modern, ‘technical’ or ‘digital’ whims by splurging on the latest digital camera, video game or a fancy mobile phone, you seriously need to rethink.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures reveals that children in the country are found spending £13 on an average every week, neither on games nor on phones, but on very conventional stuff like sweets and food. Amongst kids aged between 7- 15 years, as much as 18% are found gorging themselves at the confectioners, shelling out money on snacks and drinks. About the same proportion of children, choose to spend precious sums on school meals and takeaways.
Consequently, household expenditures in Britain are soaring high and unabashedly exceeding income, in turn widening the debt gap to reach worrying dimensions.
| The ONS survey also highlights the great purchasing power that the teens possess in the country, what with youth between ages 13 to 15 years spending a sizeable £20.40 per week on an average. This is in comparison to children aged between 10 to 12 years who spend a lesser £11.30 every week and children between 7 to 9 years spending about £7 each week.
Furthermore, girls are seen walking ahead of boys as far as expenses are concerned. Girls between 7 to 15 years of age fritter about £13.60 on an average every week against boys of that age staying behind at £12.40.
Meanwhile, apparel and footwear follow closely in the children’s shopping list after food and drinks. While 15% of the weekly expenses are dedicated to clothes and shoes, about 13% is consumed by children in buying games, toys, pursuing their hobbies or maintaining their pets, with almost half of the amount concentrating on computer games and software. About 4% of weekly expenses comprise of cellular phones and related charges, in which girls between 13 to 15 years again top the list, squandering about £1.50 in a week, in comparison to boys who spend only 90 p.
The ONS has devised for the very first time an annual ONS Family Spending Report that calculates primarily the purchasing power of children and their eminence as consumers of the society. Around 4,167 children participated in this study during 2002-2004, giving an account of their expenses incurred out of their personal money in a period of two-weeks.
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