Swedish eight-year-olds still receive a median of 25 kronor a week in pocket money, the same amount they got in 2021, according to Swedbank's annual survey. Because consumer prices have climbed 23 percent over the same period, that unchanged sum now buys noticeably less than it did five years ago. Omni – Alla nyheter. Alla perspektiv. reported the findings on Wednesday.
The survey was carried out by Swedbank and the savings banks group Sparbankerna around the occasion of Pocket Money Day. It drew on 2,050 respondents from a Sifo panel, all parents aged 25 to 65 with children between 7 and 18 years old.
Why it matters
The figure is a small but concrete illustration of how inflation works its way into everyday life. A weekly allowance is often a child's first experience of managing money, and its purchasing power has quietly eroded even though the number on the coin has not moved.
Arturo Arques, private economist at Swedbank and Sparbankerna, said the gap gives children a factual basis for renegotiating their allowance with their parents. In comments to the Swedish news agency TT, he described the inflation comparison as an argument children could put to their parents when discussing weekly or monthly pocket money.
A flat number against rising prices
The headline finding is simple: the median weekly sum for eight-year-olds has not changed since 2021. What has changed is what that sum can buy. With prices up 23 percent in total over the period, the same 25 kronor covers a smaller share of the sweets, toys or activities it once did.
The survey's median measure means half of the responding parents reported giving their eight-year-old more than 25 kronor a week and half reported giving less, so individual families vary around the figure. The survey does not break out how allowances differ by age beyond the eight-year-old benchmark highlighted in the reporting.
What to watch
The survey is an annual snapshot, so next year's edition will show whether parents adjust allowances upward in response to the inflation gap or whether the median stays flat for a sixth consecutive year.
