How Much Pocket Money by Age in the UK?

If you have ever wondered how much pocket money by age is normal in the UK, you are in good company — it is one of the most common questions parents ask, and there is no official answer. What we do have is data from large annual surveys, which give a useful picture of what families actually tend to give at different ages.

This guide sets out the latest figures, honestly attributed, with a full age-by-age breakdown — and explains why they are best treated as context rather than a target to hit.

What pocket money actually means

Pocket money is a regular, predictable amount given to a child to spend, save or share as they choose. The defining feature is that the child decides what happens to it. That is what separates it from money handed over for a specific purpose, like a school trip or a bus fare.

In UK survey data it usually gets split into two different things, and confusing them is why quoted averages vary so widely:

Regular pocket money — the routine amount, paid weekly or monthly, with no strings attached.
Overall income — everything a child receives, including the routine amount plus chore payments, birthday and holiday gifts, and one-off treats.

The second number is roughly two and a half times the first. Any headline figure is close to meaningless until you know which one it is describing.

What UK surveys report

The most widely cited tracker is the NatWest Rooster Money Pocket Money Index. Its tenth annual edition, published on 30 June 2026, draws on the activity of more than half a million Rooster Card users and covers 1 March 2025 to 28 February 2026.

Its headline findings for children aged 6 to 17:

Overall weekly income averaged £9.74, up 6.7% on the previous year's £9.13 — about £506.48 across a year (NatWest Group).
Regular pocket money alone averaged £3.94 a week (NatWest Rooster Money).

The gap between those two figures is the whole story: most of what children receive is not the weekly amount, it is everything around it.

Average pocket money by age in the UK

This is the breakdown parents usually come looking for. These are regular weekly pocket money figures — the routine amount, not including chores or gifts — from the 2026 index (NatWest Rooster Money).

| Age | Average weekly pocket money | |---|---| | 6 | £2.69 | | 7 | £2.79 | | 8 | £2.88 | | 9 | £3.07 | | 10 | £3.27 | | 11 | £3.56 | | 12 | £4.01 | | 13 | £4.50 | | 14 | £5.10 | | 15 | £5.66 | | 16 | £6.68 | | 17 | £7.95 |

A few things stand out.

The rise is gradual, not stepped. From six to eleven the increase is roughly 15 to 30 pence a year. Nothing in the data suggests a birthday should bring a dramatic jump.

It accelerates around twelve. The step from eleven to twelve is larger than any before it, and the increases stay bigger from there. That timing lines up with secondary school, and with children starting to cover small costs themselves.

It roughly triples across childhood. A seventeen-year-old receives about three times what a six-year-old does — a useful sense-check if you are trying to work out where a particular age sits on a path.

An earlier version of this page declined to publish these numbers

Worth being transparent about: until now this guide said the per-age breakdown was not something the survey published, and that we would not invent per-year figures. That was true of the edition available at the time. The 2026 index publishes the full table, so the figures above are the survey's own — not an interpolation of ours.

Where the rest of the money comes from

Since overall income is roughly two and a half times regular pocket money, the difference is worth understanding. The 2026 index puts average chore payments at (NatWest Group):

| Chore | Average per session | |---|---| | Mowing the lawn | £3.52 | | Washing the car | £3.36 | | Cleaning windows | £1.65 | | Gardening | £1.38 | | Walking the dog | £1.15 |

Outdoor work pays several times what indoor work does. One lawn mow is worth close to a week's regular pocket money for a ten-year-old.

Gifts make up much of the remainder — the same index reports birthday gifts averaging £46.41 and gifts from grandparents £24.49, with the tooth fairy at £4.79 a tooth, up 14% on the year (NatWest Group).

There is no fixed rule, and the average is not a target

No authority sets a correct amount. What fits depends on your household budget, what you expect the child to pay for themselves, and your own values. Two thoughtful families can land on very different numbers and both be doing fine.

The figures above are a snapshot of what is common. They are not a standard anyone is failing to meet. Different providers also measure different things across different groups of families, so numbers from separate surveys rarely agree exactly — which is a good reason to hold any single figure loosely.

What tends to matter more than the amount:

What you can sustain. Consistency beats generosity. A smaller amount that never gets missed does more than a larger one that stops and starts.
What it is meant to cover. If an older child buys their own snacks, bus fares or subscriptions, their amount will naturally sit higher than a younger child's practice money.
Your household budget. Pocket money fits your finances, not an average.
Frequency. Younger children generally do better with small weekly amounts; teenagers can handle larger, less frequent sums that require some planning.

Turning the number into a habit

The amount matters far less than what a child does with it. Whatever figure you land on, the value is in the routine around it — splitting money into save, spend and give; keeping the timing predictable; and letting a child feel the consequences of their own choices, including the uncomfortable ones.

If you are building that routine, our guide to how to set up an allowance system for kids at home covers the practical setup. On the question of whether to tie money to jobs at all, pocket money vs chores works through both sides.

Where Famyance fits, honestly

Famyance is a family budgeting app. Its Kid Mode brings children into age-appropriate parts of the household's money picture — tracking an allowance, or watching a savings goal fill up.

Being clear about what it is not: Kid Mode is not a prepaid card and not a child bank account. Products like GoHenry, NatWest Rooster Money and nimbl are prepaid cards, which is a different kind of product entirely. Famyance is not a bank. It works through manual entry and uploaded statements rather than connecting to anyone's bank, so nothing here involves handing over banking logins.

If that is useful, you can create your free account.

Questions people ask

What is the average pocket money in the UK? The NatWest Rooster Money Pocket Money Index 2026 reports an overall average of £9.74 a week for children aged 6 to 17, including chore payments and gifts. Regular routine pocket money alone averages £3.94 a week.

How much pocket money should a 10-year-old get? The 2026 index puts the average regular pocket money for a ten-year-old at £3.27 a week. Whether that fits your household is a separate question from what is typical.

Does pocket money increase with age? Yes, steadily. The 2026 figures run from £2.69 a week at age 6 to £7.95 at age 17, with the increases getting larger from around age twelve.

Why do different surveys give different numbers? Mostly because they measure different things. An average that includes chore money and birthday gifts will be roughly two and a half times one that counts only the routine weekly amount. Sample groups differ too.

Is the national average a target to match? No. An average describes what others do, not a standard to hit. Consistency and the habits built around the money matter more than the figure.

How much do children earn from chores? The 2026 index reports mowing the lawn as the best-paid at £3.52 a session, with washing the car at £3.36. Indoor jobs pay considerably less — window cleaning £1.65, gardening £1.38, dog walking £1.15.