Adults' perceptions of the economic socialization of children

This study was concerned with the determinants of adults' beliefs in the economic socialization of children through the use of pocket money (allowances). Over 200 adults completed a questionnaire on their beliefs concerning, for instance, how much and how often children should be given pocket money, as well as such things as whether they should be encouraged to work for it, save it, etc. The independent variables included the subjects' age, sex, education, voting pattern, religion, occupation and whether or not they were parents. The results showed that whereas there were few age or sex differences, the socio-economic class of the adults, and the fact that they did or did not have children did discriminate between the responses of the subjects. Findings were discussed in terms of the literature of economic socialization.