Children's pocket money rises by 6 per cent

Children are finally enjoying the end of a pocket-money recession that lasted seven years.

Figures show that the average parental payout has risen by 6 per cent this year to £6.25 a week, so the typical British child now has an extra 36p to spend every seven days.

But after a seven-year decline children are still a long way from the 2003 peak of £8.37, as recorded in the annual Halifax Pocket Money Survey.

Parents in London were found to be the most generous, handing out £7.63 a week, or about £2.50 more than their peers in the South-west of England. The Halifax's researchers surveyed 1,202 children aged between eight and 15 across the UK.