By Tom Barton

21 Aug, 2002

Page 14

WELSH parents are the most generous in Britain - giving their children an average pocket money of pounds 8.49 a week.

While children in the south east of England get pounds 4.91 a week, Welsh children have almost twice as much to spend on sweets, books, toys and computer games.

Wales comes top of the survey commissioned by NOP, who questioned 1,000 seven to 16-years-olds for credit card company Goldfish.

North Wales mother Kim Johnson, who was shopping in Llandudno Junction yesterday, gives her son, Chris, pounds 7 a week. The 11-year-old said he spends this on Harry Potter books and sweets, but thinks that he saves pounds 4 to pounds 5 a week for games for his Playstation 2 console.

He added most of his friends saved their pocket money to buy 'petrol racer' remotecontrolled cars, which cost about pounds 200 each.

Ms Johnson said pounds 8.49 sounded 'about right' for what Chris and and his friends received.

Helen Fenner, from Tal-yBont, in the Conwy Valley, gives her four girls between pounds 2.50 and pounds 4 a week pocket money if they do all their chores.

'It think it's terrible that parents give their children this much pocket money. I just don't know where they get the money from,' she said. Her oldest

daughter, 12-year-old Keyleigh, said she was saving up for a mobile telephone, and she spent the money she didn't save on sweets.

Wayne Wheatley, leader of the Denbighshire education and social work team, warned parents could often find themselves giving more than they can afford.

'I think in this society now there is a lot of pressure on parents, with the materialism of the world, to provide for their children,' he said.

'There is a lot of media pressure on parents, even if they can't afford it, to spend money on their children because they don't want to be seen to be disadvantaging them. Some parents I've seen will even go into debt to provide for their children.'

Only 7pc of Welsh children live in the top income bracket, compared to 14pc of Scottish children, who receive just pounds 6.08 in pocket money.

Top spending choices for children include fashion, music and computer games - although sweets still account for almost two-thirds of children's spending in some parts of England.

Midlands children receive the next highest level of pocket money, is almost 90p below that for Welsh children.

Average weekly pocket money...1 Wales - pounds 8.49 2 Midlands - pounds 7.60 3 London - pounds 7.59 4 North West - pounds 6.61 5 East Anglia - pounds 6.186 Yorks and Humberside - pounds 6.13 7 Scotland - pounds 6.08 8 South West - pounds 5.41 9 North East - pounds 5.34 10 South East - pounds 4.91