1.33 million UK kids use crypto, GoHenry Youth Economy Report reveals

Entrepreneurial kids are making money by trading crypto and selling clothes online over babysitting and dog walking, according to the latest Youth Economy Report from GoHenry, the prepaid debit card and financial education app for kids aged 6-18.

The insights into young people’s earning habits – gathered from more than 450,000 UK children and teenagers – indicate that Gen-Alpha and Gen-Z are breaking the mould when it comes to the future of work. Being their own boss, earning an above average wage and closing the gender pay gap are set to be the norm.

‘Bedroom businesses’ boom as interest in traditional part-time work wanes

Kids earned £148 million in 2021. This represents a 9% increase in earnings per child since 2020, more than double the average weekly wage growth for adults (4%). Over the last year, an increasing number of young people have made this money working from their bedrooms.

With many children now regularly making money online, the younger generations are demonstrating just how much traditional earning methods have fallen out of favour²:

• 1.33 million UK kids are making money from investing in cryptocurrency .
• A quarter of kids and teens (25%) are now earning from selling things on online marketplaces such as Etsy, Ebay, Depop and Vinted with an average monthly ‘wage’ of £7.34.
• Nearly one in five (18%) kids are earning money from gaming, with 12-year-olds making the most, taking home on average £8.24 a month.
• 12% of 7-year-olds are already making money from social media, topping up their pocket money payments with £5.14 from kid-fluencing each month. This rises to 23% for 10-year-olds whose social media stardom is earning them a monthly average of £6.21.
• In comparison, more traditional part-time jobs such as babysitting (undertaken by 21% with a monthly average earning of £5.74) and dog walking (undertaken by 21% with a monthly average earning of £4.81) are proving less lucrative.

With non-traditional methods of income already bringing in more money for youngsters, and more than a quarter (26%) aiming to become entrepreneurs when they are older², a traditional career path is looking increasingly unlikely for Gen-Alpha and Gen-Z.

When asked to rank industries from the most to the least desirable for their future career, gaming, app development and healthcare were the most sought after with law, finance and marketing ranking some of the lowest²:

1. IT / software / app developer / gaming
2. Healthcare
3. Teacher / education
4. Engineer
5. Vet
6. Professional gamer
7. Social media influencer
8. Finance
9. Law
10. Beauty

Salary expectations grow in importance as cost of living squeezes households

With UK households bearing the brunt of a rise in the cost of living, children are increasingly recognising the importance of earnings.

Kids today believe they will need to be earning £2,353 a month, totalling just under £36,000 a year, to live a comfortable and happy life as an adult². This is around £5,000 more than the average UK salary.

One in ten (10%²) young people have set themselves an even more ambitious goal to earn at least £4,000 a month which equates to £68,000 per annum.

Despite an emerging trend for non-traditional work, young people do have a good sense of which jobs offer the most generous salaries, identifying careers in law (37%), finance (32%) and IT (30%) as some of the UK’s best-paid².

Closing the gender pay gap with equal pocket money pay

The century-old gender pay gap, which rose to 7.9% amongst UK adults in April 2021, could finally begin to shrink following evidence that the pocket money pay gap, which stood at 5% in 2018, has reversed for the first time.

Girls are now earning 4% more than boys (£8.37 per week, compared to £8.03 for boys¹), which represents an overall increase of 9% in girls’ earnings year-on-year.

Commenting on the Youth Economy report, Louise Hill, COO and co-founder of GoHenry said: “It’s inspiring to see the ambition of young people when it comes to earning their own money, especially after a tough couple of years with the pandemic. The future of work is rapidly changing now that kids are growing up surrounded by people just like them, who are starting businesses from their bedrooms, and making money thanks to the explosion in digital opportunities. As a result, the Youth Economy is booming. With 75% of children agreeing financial education will help them in their future career, our report findings show how empowering children to earn money from a young age could have a lasting positive outcome on equality and job opportunities in the UK.”

GoHenry is equipping young people with money skills for life with its financial education app and interactive, gamified lessons, Money Missions, which empower kids to develop smart money habits as they enter the adult world of finance and embark on their career journey.