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ING Zing Survey, held during the past one month, collected feedbacks from 4,067 parents across the country.
Online shopping
As e-commerce growth in India gathers rapid pace, the survey also asked parents on their perceptions about children and online shopping. Though 84 per cent of parents have shopped online themselves, a majority of them were worried when it comes to their children, for different reasons, the most prominent one being “worried that the child might be tempted to buy items that are not necessary”. They also felt that children might fall prey to online scamsters. When asked if they allowed their children to shop online, 49 per cent parents said they would not encourage their kids to shop online. About one-third of the respondents assist their kid in buying once the child identifies or finds the product online.
The Annual ING ZING survey is meant to capture the changing behavioral trends among parents and kids on money management and how they adapt to each other’s needs and requirements. This year over 65 per cent of respondents represented metropolitan cities, while the remaining were from rest of the country, covering an age group of 25-45 years.
Pocket money
Children’s pocket money tends to rise along with their age but what’s interesting is what they really earn these days. On an average, children below 10 years get either no money or less than Rs 500 a month. For those between 15 and 18 years this is below Rs 1,000 a month.
Last year, more than 50 per cent of parents were not in favour of giving pocket money. However, this has improved this year with two-thirds of parents in favour of giving pocket money to a child above 10 years.
About 80 per cent of the respondents felt that their child is more knowledgeable than them about savings. More than one-third of them believed their child is “smarter about savings” and understand the value of money better than they were at that age. Parents who see themselves as spenders give more pocket allowance to their children. Children who are better at financial planning also seem to receive higher pocket money from their parents.
Last year, Zing Survey had observed some interesting insights on the concept of pocket money, on how Indian parents use pocket money to reward their children to score high marks in academics and not freebies.
Saving avenues
Parents with younger kids prefer to open a child’s savings bank account over other investment options and investing in fixed deposits is the second most preferred choice. Children’s education was the most significant reason for parents to save.
Among parents with older children, insurance and fixed deposits came out as the most popular methods of investments. When for younger kids, 58 per cent parents saved below 10%, 75 per cent respondents with older kids saved between 10 to 20 per cent.
Majority of the parents believed that only children above 15 years should be allowed to operate a bank account independently.
This is in the backdrop of Reserve Bank of India’s recent decision to allow banks to offer independent savings accounts to children above 10 years.
Also, mothers edged out fathers as influencers when it came to money management by children. 72.7 per cent of the respondents thought kids asked mothers the maximum questions about money. Also more than half of the parents save less than 10 per cent of their monthly income for the child’s future.
PIGGY BANK MATTERS
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4,067 Number of parents who participated in the poll, pan-India
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Most of the parents are worried about kids shopping online
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Majority felt only children above 15 years can operate bank accounts independently
- More than half of respondents allocate less than 10% of monthly income for child's future
