Parents struggle to teach value of money in digital world

Nearly one-in-three parents have discovered their child has made an online purchase without permission, with kids’ most expensive unapproved shopping sprees costing families about $170 on average.

According to a nationally representative survey of 2,000 parents with children 18 and under, 31% said their kids have made digital purchases without permission.

For some, the cost was much higher than the $170 average: Nearly one-in-five parents (19%) reported their child’s spending spree exceeded $300.

While many of these unapproved purchases were for things like video games and fashion, some kids went for bigger ticket items, including computers, smartphones, smart watches and cameras.

A few parents even reported their children purchased stocks and cryptocurrency.

A lack of monitoring and understanding

Commissioned by the digital personal finance company Achieve and conducted by Talker Research, the survey found that despite the financial risks, many parents aren’t closely monitoring their children's spending.

For example, 23% of parents rarely or never check their children's debit and credit card activity.

Additionally, 11% rarely or never require their kids to get permission before making digital purchases.

This lack of oversight may reflect a deeper issue: Parents often struggle teaching financial awareness and as a result, many children simply don’t grasp the value of money.

The study revealed that 72% of parents feel their child doesn’t fully understand the value of a dollar. This is especially true with digital currency, as 44% of parents admitted it’s harder to teach kids the value of digital money versus physical money.

"Overspending online can be a slippery slope for anyone, but it's especially true for kids in an era where nearly everything is just a click away," said Brad Stroh, co-founder and co-chief executive officer at Achieve. "Parents are busier than ever and struggle to keep up with monitoring their kids’ purchases. However, it’s important that they have a game plan to teach their kids financial awareness so they understand the value of money early on."

Allowance and consequences

The survey also explored how parents handle allowances and financial awareness.

The majority of parents polled (57%) give their children a regular allowance, most frequently paying in cash (73%).

On average, kids receive about $119 per month, though 14% get more than $250.

Even with a budget, overspending is common, as only 12% of parents said their kids never go over their allowance.

When an unapproved purchase is made, most parents (56%) address it by having a conversation with their children. Other consequences included taking away a device (23%), requiring the child to pay back the money (20%) and freezing or restricting bank account access (11%).

Many parents want their kids to learn financial awareness and responsibility, with 66% saying they'd be more relaxed about their children's spending if they showed they understood the value of money.

However, teaching these lessons isn't easy. A large majority of parents (61%) wished a financial expert could teach their child healthy spending habits for them.

"There’s no single ‘right way’ to teach kids to have a healthy relationship with money, but the key is for parents to have a thoughtful, tailored and consistent approach to their kids’ financial education," said Stroh. "Starting conversations with kids about money early on will set them up for a more successful financial future."

Survey methodology:

Talker Research surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,000 American parents with a child aged 18 and under living at home; the survey was commissioned by Achieve and administered and conducted online by Talker Research between April 14 and April 23, 2025.

Survey participants were sourced from a non-probability frame with the two main sources used including:

• Traditional online access panels — where respondents opt-in to take part in online market research for an incentive
• Programmatic — where respondents are online and are given the option to take part in a survey to receive a virtual incentive usually related to the online activity they are engaging in

Those who did not fit the specified sample were terminated from the survey. As the survey was fielded, dynamic online sampling was used, adjusting targeting to achieve the quotas specified as part of the sampling plan.

Regardless of which sources a respondent came from, they were directed to an Online Survey, where the survey was conducted in English; a link to the questionnaire can be shared upon request. Respondents were awarded points for completing the survey. These points have a small cash-equivalent monetary value.

Cells are only reported on for analysis if they have a minimum of 80 respondents, and statistical significance is calculated at the 95% level. Data is not weighted, but quotas and other parameters are put in place to reach the desired sample.

Interviews are excluded from the final analysis if they failed quality-checking measures. This includes:

• Speeders: Respondents who complete the survey in a time that is quicker than one-third of the median length of interview are disqualified as speeders
• Open ends: All verbatim responses (full open-ended questions as well as other please specify options) are checked for inappropriate or irrelevant text
• Bots: Captcha is enabled on surveys, which allows the research team to identify and disqualify bots
• Duplicates: Survey software has “deduping” based on digital fingerprinting, which ensures nobody is allowed to take the survey more than once

It is worth noting that this survey was only available to individuals with internet access, and the results may not be generalizable to those without internet access.