Adult Pocket Money Index
-Personal allowances total £46.4bn a year-
Almost half of all UK adults (49%) set aside a fixed amount of pocket money each month, totalling a massive £46.4bn a year.
A major study into the spending habits of the nation by PriceRunner.co.uk, the price comparison service, shows that the average Brit puts aside £164 a month in pocket money, or £37.85 a week. This works out at around 11% of the typical UK salary.
The PriceRunner service allows customers to search and browse a wide range of products - from TVs to washing machines and compare prices, product specifications and retailers.
Who holds the purse strings?One in five Brits allow their pocket money to be controlled by a partner. The Index revealed that younger people are the least independent with their money. Four out of 10 16-29 year olds let their girlfriend/boyfriend or husband/wife allocate their pocket money to them, compared to just 7% of the over 60s and 12% of 45-60 year olds.
Top pocket money purchasesThe Adult Pocket Money Index revealed the top five items people purchase are: booze, meals out, clothes, magazines and chocolate. 495,000 men also admitted to spending their pocket money on sexy underwear for themselves!
The internet is making a substantial dent on personal allowances with a third of Brits splurging on impulse online buys. iTunes purchases are the biggest pull for men (21%) and shopping sites are where women are most likely to spend their cash (20%).
Hey ‘over’ spenderA third of the UK population admit to regularly exceeding their allowance, with men identified as the biggest over spenders – 37% compared to 30% of women. Men are also least likely to confess to a partner when they go over their allowance allocation.
Cigarettes and alcohol
Alcohol is the most popular purchase for Brits to spend their pocket money on, with over a third (35%) citing this as their main expense.
And despite the imminent smoking ban in England and bans in
Scotland and Wales already in force, almost one in five people (18%) revealed their pocket money goes on cigarettes.
Gary Goodman, marketing director at PriceRunner UK said: It’s interesting to see the average Brit is consciously setting aside £164 a month for themselves and sometimes for their partner
as it shows a mature approach to managing their money but using a childhood method! The internet is a well established spending avenue so we’d advise people to ensure their pocket money lasts longer by checking they are getting a good price online, before they buy on the web or in a store.”
Age group findings
- The 16-29 age group are most likely to have adult pocket money (55%)with 29% granting themselves more than £100 each month
- 16-29 year olds are the biggest fitness fanatics with almost one in five spending their allowance on yoga classes and gym memberships compared to the national average of 9%
- 30-44 year olds have the sweetest teeth with 22% spending their cash on chocolate compared to just 16% of 16-29 year olds
- 30-44 year old age group are the biggest purchasers of make up (22%)
- 30-44 year old age group are the biggest spenders online (25%)
- 14% of people spend their pocket money filling their iPod with tunes from services like iTunes and the biggest music lovers are the 45-59 year old age group (17%)
- Meals out are the biggest indulgence for the over 60s, with over half (52%) citing this as their most popular way to spend their money
- Welsh people are most likely to have Adult Pocket Money (69%)
- The Scottish are the most secretive about how much pocket money they have with one in three not disclosing details of the exact amount
- Scots and Londoners are the most likely people to exceed their pocket money allowances, at 50% and 39% respectively
- Londoners and those from the Midlands are least likely to splurge on beer with only one in five splashing out on booze compared to the national average of 35%
- Londoners are the biggest clothes horses with four out of ten spending on a new wardrobe
- Computer games are the most popular in the South East with 13% spending their money on them compared to a national average of 8%
- Londoners have the biggest restaurant choice and it shows with 42% regularly spending on dining out. Takeaways are the most popular in East Anglia
| Position | Area | Pocket Money allowance per month |
| 1 | North West | £203.93 |
| 2 | Midlands | £191.58 |
| 3 | London | £179.72 |
| 4 | Wales | £173.90 |
| 5 | Scotland | £162.95 |
| 6 | North East | £160.63 |
| 7 | South West | £153.09 |
| 8 | South East | £151.14 |
| 9 | East Anglia | £143.65 |
| Position | Item | % of people purchasing | Female | Male |
| 1 | Beer / wine | 35% | 25% | 52% |
| 2 | Meals out | 30% | 29% | 31% |
| 3 | Clothes / handbags and shoes | 29% | 44% | 5% |
| 4 | Magazines | 22% | 22% | 23% |
| 5 | Chocolate | 20% | 21% | 17% |
| 6 | Make up | 19% | 29% | 3% |
| 7 | Random internet purchases | 18% | 20% | 15% |
| 8 | Cigarettes | 18% | 14% | 26% |
| 9 | Takeaways | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| 10 | Itunes | 14% | 11% | 21% |
* Based on average spend of £164 a month by 49% of the UK’s adult population ** Based on UK average salary of £23,244 pa after tax – National Statistics online ***3% of men who use pocket money based on a UK adult population – Yahoo Questions
Notes to editors: • Survey conducted by SNS research in May 2007. Sample size = 1,000|
Vicki Realff Media Relations Tel: 020 8846 0760 Mobile: 07974 161130, E-mail: pricerunner@augustone.com |
Dan Gamble T 020 8846 0761 M 07917 017 817 |
About PriceRunner (ValueClick, Inc.)::
About ValueClick::
This release contains forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited
to, ValueClick’s ability to successfully integrate its recently completed
Fastclick and Webclients mergers, trends in online advertising spending and
estimates of future online performance-based advertising. Actual results may
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2005; and its final prospectus on Form 424B3 filed on September 28, 2005. Other
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed
or implied in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
the risk that market demand for online advertising, and performance-based online
advertising in particular, will not grow as rapidly as predicted. ValueClick
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www.PriceRunner.co.uk, a division of ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq: VCLK), is the UK's most comprehensive and
independent price comparison company. Online prices are updated on a daily basis by a specialist team
that develops and manages cutting edge technology which hunts down the cheapest online prices available.
PriceRunner is unique in that, unlike other price comparison sites, a dedicated team of PriceRunners also checks prices in high street stores. PriceRunner always lists the cheapest price first and is completely independent in that it lists all retailers, regardless whether they pay or not, to provide consumers with a complete overview of the market.
ValueClick, Inc. (Nasdaq:VCLK) is a leading global provider of digital marketing solutions, enabling advertisers,
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vcmedia, Commission Junction, Mediaplex and PriceRunner, ValueClick provides a comprehensive portfolio of digital marketing solutions.
