Survey by SEB: many parents shape their children’s spending habits

Family plays an important role in shaping conscious money wisdom among young people. It is positive that 83 per cent of young people in Estonia consciously plan their allowance. About 20 per cent of young people take advice from their friends when it comes to planning their money matters reasonably. Only 1 per cent of surveyed young people consider recommendations from teachers, as indicated by the survey conducted by SEB among around 1000 Estonian young people aged 12-19.

Triin Raudsepp, Head of SEB’s private client segment, commented on the survey as follows: “The inclusion of children in the planning of the family budget is the best way to teach them how to be prudent with money. Children should be introduced to the main rules of the financial world already when they are 3 years old, i.e. while in kindergarten. The role of the family and society is important in this process. It is also positive that twice a year volunteers from our bank visit schools to give money wisdom lessons. This has greatly increased the awareness of the children and their parents regarding money issues.”

The survey also indicates that parents are not very interested in how their children spend their allowance. Only 22 per cent of young people marked in the survey that their parents frequently ask about their spending habits. The parents of almost 60 per cent of surveyed young people only ask about expenses when their children ask for more money.

“Certainly, the parents’ involvement in their children’s financial decisions should be greater. By teaching their child to plan the use of their allowance independently, a parent increases the child’s responsibility and independence,” Triin Raudsepp added.

The objective of the SEB survey was to study the primary spending habits of young people and highlight the main areas of concern. The results of the survey support the bank’s plan to further increase initiatives for sharing money wisdom in Estonian schools.

For more information:

Julia Piilmann
Communications Manager
Marketing and Communications Division
SEB Pank

Phone +372 665 5340
Address Tornimäe 2, 15010 Tallinn
E-mail julia.piilmann@seb.ee
www.seb.ee

Read our news feed on Twitter www.twitter.com/SEB_Eesti
Follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/seb.eesti
View the video archive on YouTube www.youtube.com/user/sebeestivideo