A wise old person once said "If you want to recapture your youth, just cut off his allowance".
Certainly if you did that now, the average teenager would be highly upset, especially as on average they get over £1,000 a year in pocket money!
£1,0000!
Good grief...we could only dream of having such a sum of money when we were growing up. As it is, many of us earnt the paltry sum of £3 a week (if lucky) whilst struggling under the deadweight of delivering the local newspaper in the evenings.
So, parents, you may all be worried about inheritance tax, but it appears your teenagers have the perfect solution for you; spend all your family's cash now!
According to a survey by MTV One, the average teenager now gets an allowance heading towards £1,000 a year, with some pocketing half as much again!
Over 3,000 surveyed teenagers suggest that the term "pocket money" is not the right phrase to adequately describe the wads of cash being given to teenagers by their parents (who perhaps have more money than sense?)
Recently it was suggested that pocket money levels among under-16s have jumped 600% since 1987!!
It seems that allowances rise with age with 13-year-olds getting an average of £45 a month, 16 yr olds get £80 and 18yr olds get £120!
Most of the average annual allowance of £1,000 a year is spent on personal items such as styling products, with some spending as much as £350.
This clearly dispels the notion that teenagers don't wash or look after themselves properly; in fact they are probably better groomed than most adults!
Socialising costs slightly more across the year with teenagers spending £360 on average; £260 (unsurprisingly) is spent on alcohol and, for some, £240 buys cigarettes.
Teenagers do love their gadgets too, with MP3 players and laptops being top of their shopping list. They also generally top up their income via gifts of around £70 at Christmas and £50 on birthdays!
But, parents, before you get too irate about teenagers just being given loads of money and not lifting their lazy little fingers, some teenagers are contributing!
Over 60% of the surveyed teenagers, including a third of those under 16, also had some sort of paid employment. The younger ones garden, wash cars, deliver papers and walk dogs; those over 16 do babysitting, or work in a shop or restaurant.
The survey also revealed a rich-poor divide just like the rest of the society:
The wealthiest 10% of teenagers get an average allowance of £1,476 a year, while the poorest 10% receive just £144.
So, are teenagers' large allowances just a fact of life or are they just another display of over indulgent parents?
What kind of allowance do you think teenagers should get? Or should they get a job if they want an allowance?
Why not let us know?