Confession: My entire life runs on cards (as in, I never have cash, ever).
I even buy my €2,50 take-out latte with my debit card, a little habit that ensures that when it comes to those situations where change is needed, I sometimes find myself having to borrow a coin here and there from my little girl (who has a handy stash of them at all times in her piggy bank).
I try always to make sure I put it back, of course, and have even given her a little interest on some loans by putting back a €5 note when all I took was a €2 coin, but still, part of me always feel slightly guilty for having to dip into my children’s money from time to time.
The good (or, slightly depressing) news is that I am not alone in this. In fact, according to a recent UK study by Nationwide Savings, a whopping 46 percent of British parents interviewed admit to being “piggy bank raiders” who occasionally dip into their children’s cash to cover costs such as parking, taxis, school trips, and paying the window cleaner.
Phew. There is comfort in numbers.
The survey of 2,000 British parents found that mums are more likely to swipe cash than dads, but when dads do dip their fingers into the piggy bank, they take more.
The good news, though, is that the vast majority of parents (93 percent) do keep their promise of paying their kids back – with amazingly only 39 percent of children even noticing the money had disappeared in the first place. Almost one-third of parents who took money said they had confessed to their child, while 23 percent sneaked the money back into their child’s piggy bank.
When it comes to why we need to dip into our kids’ cash in the first place, most mums and dads said it came down to necessity in the moment – an urgency to find change for parking or a charity collection or school lunch money.
In all fairness, teaching kids about money and responsibility is important, we all know that, and I think as long as we make sure the money is paid back, a little borrowing here and there isn’t the worst parenting blunder you can get up to.
What do YOU think, guys? Hands up, who has had to dip into the kids’ piggy banks from time to time? Let us know in the comments or tweet us at @Herfamilydotie
