Smiling teen girl holding credit card and searching for something to buy online
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In the age of instant gratification, Alpha Gen can easily get instant delivery services like Amazon Prime and Uber Eats, and some parents want to know how to teach young money-saving skills.
Alpha Gen was born between 2010 and 2024, unlike other generations. Their smartphones grew up in their hands and were able to click a button to make a purchase.
In fact, they have a great ability to spend. Gen Alpha spent £92m According to research by financial technology company Gohenry, the company provides debit cards ($126.2 million) to children in the UK, the United States, France and Spain. Gohenry released its Youth Economic Report in September 2024, which provides data from 311,832 Gohenry children.
Much of that money goes to online services, while Gohenry’s children spent over £3 million to buy food services, an increase of 113% from the previous year. Also, almost half like to buy on social media platforms like Tiktok Shop, Facebook Marketplace, and Instagram.
Their economic footprint is expected To reach $5.46 trillion By 2029, according to research firm McCrindle.
“Convenience and speed have become the norm,” Gohenry founder Louise Hill told CNBC in an interview. “One thing we need to remember when we think of alpha agents in particular is that they are completely used to everything available with the flashing of the switch, clicking the button, which can drive different behaviors with money.”
Hill explained that despite the influx of online financial education resources, easy-to-use monetary products and applications have also surged, such as credit cards, purchase-senteners’ choices and contactless payments. This makes it more complicated for parents to navigate their children’s nutrient skills.
She stressed the importance of children understanding that “must make money before spending” and then spending the money with thoughts and considerations.
Make money “tangible”
Hill said it is crucial for kids to see “the tangible aspects of money” to understand its value, like physical cash. Offering “regular pocket money” is a solution, ranging from 50p to £5 per week.
“If you give your kids 50p and choose a day of the week, which is probably Saturday for your pocket money as a family, then you can actually give them 50p. Every Saturday, how quickly they will start to realize ‘oh look, this is every Saturday.
Handling physical cash allows children to know how much the items they like.
“You can give your kids some coins and then they can swap out how many of them for a bag of candy instead of bigger toys,” the founder of Gohenry said.
For teenagers, Hill proposed a “pizza budget” approach that allows kids to visually understand the money running a family and paying bills.
“Pizza is your money, your salary or pocket money and then take the kids, ‘You want to guess if it’s a family salary, we need to cut a small piece of pizza?
As pizza gets smaller, it can understand the remaining money spent on leisure.
Including kids in money conversation
Kids are like sponges, tending to absorb attitudes about money from their parents, so Hill believes it is best to get them into a cycle about family finances.
She cited examples of the crisis of life in the UK after a widespread citation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the media. Gohenry began to listen to customers, whose children were worried about the crisis of cost of living.
“The kids do absorb everything in this situation, maybe as a family, you feel stressed about money,” she said.
Parents can talk about money struggles without asking exact questions, such as their inability to pay rent.
For example, Hill said if you can no longer afford to takeout every Friday night, then getting kids involved in making “fakeaway” means selling at home.
Hill added: “What about getting kids involved in making pizza and choosing toppings? Maybe even go to the supermarket with you and pick up those toppings instead of paying for a deal and showing them how much money you saved.”
This can help children gain more control over their money spending habits and learn to tighten their belts as they get older.
