Naughty kids missed out on £millions of pocket money this year

Britain’s bad boys and ghastly girls were made to pay through the pocket for misbehaving over the past year, according to research from Abbey Banking.

Indeed some two-fifths (41 per cent) of Britain’s 11-15 year olds had their pocket money docked at some point during 2007, clocking up an average of three weeks worth of punishments between them, costing an average of £8.92 per week.

In total, punishing parents docked a massive £40 million’s worth of their kids’ allowance in 2007, enough money to put more than 220,000 Nintendo Wiis under the tree this Christmas.

Abbey’s research also shows that Britain’s naughtiest children are to be found in the North where 45 per cent of 11-15 year olds had pocket money stopped in the past year. The best-behaved children are in the Midlands, where only one-in-three (36 per cent) children were docked pocket money.

And, playing to stereotype, it seems that boys are officially naughtier than girls - with 44 per cent of them having their pocket money docked in 2007 compared to 37 per cent of girls.

Steve Shore, Head of Banking at Abbey said: "Parents have long since wielded pocket money as a powerful weapon with which to influence their children’s conduct. Being on their best behaviour can clearly pay real financial dividends for Britain’s money motivated minors. And given that kids with an Abbey account can see their pocket money grow by 6 per cent, the price of misbehaving becomes even higher.”

From today, Abbey has a great new offer on its 11-15 and 16-18 youth accounts, paying 6 per cent interest on balances up to £500. All 11-15 year olds need to do is credit the account each month with at least one payment of any amount. 16-18 year olds need to pay in at least £50 a month during the course of a month.

And until 31 January, teenagers who open an Abbey account can double the amount of music they download from selected EMI artists. Upon purchase of a selected album, they will have the option of getting another digital album completely free.