Children 'understand the value of money by age of 10 on average'

Parents believe their children understand the value of money at 10 years old on average, a survey has found.

This is the age they stop believing money is infinite, that it must be earned, and it is important to save, according to the research from Santander.

While the average age across the survey for parents thinking their child had grasped how money works was 10, one in 14 (7%) parents believed their child had understood the concept of money by the age of five.

The survey, which included the views of five to 15-year-olds as well as parents, found nearly nine in 10 (89%) of boys said they like to save money for the future, compared with just over three-quarters (77%) of girls.

When children were asked why they like to save money, nearly half (47%) want to buy sweets or entertainment products, while days out (40%) and holiday spending money (39%) were also found to be key drivers to children's motivations to save.

A third (34%) of children save to buy gifts for their family and one in five (20%) are thinking ahead about university, the research found.

More than a quarter (26%) of parents said they were not taught the value of financial planning by their parents when they were young.

A smaller proportion (13%) of parents said they were not teaching this to their own children.

Nearly a third (32%) of parents wish their parents had taught them the importance of saving when they were young - suggesting a determination to teach their own offspring about money.

The majority (85%) of parents believe they have responsibility for teaching their children about the importance of saving, while 10% believe this responsibility sits with schools, the survey found.

Hetal Parmar, head of savings at Santander, said: "Saving and budgeting are important life skills so it's encouraging that so many parents take this seriously."

More than 500 parents and children were surveyed.