Survey carried out online from February 19 to 26, 2026. Sample of 1,048 children aged 8 to 14 years old and representative of this population. Questionnaire administered after prior authorization from at least one parent. Quota method and adjustment applied to the following variables: socio-professional category and region of parents, sex and age of children.
Paris, March 18,
The annual “Global Money Week” campaign, which aims to promote financial education from an early age through several conferences, workshops and events on the subject, will be held from March 16 to 22. On this occasion, the French Banking Federation wished to renew for the 8th consecutive year its barometric survey among young French people. This new wave is once again questioning children aged 8 to 14 around numerous themes: relationship to money, purchasing behavior, familiarity with online purchases or internet security, making it possible in particular to follow underlying trends in this area.
What can we learn from this study?
Money, always a topic of conversation for the youngest and which arouses a certain interest
Money is a frequent topic of discussion for children aged 8 to 14 and mainly within the family, with their parents. (51% say they often talk about it with them). When they talk about money, it is above all about the price of things (58%), more than everyday expenses (25%) or savings (14%). Money is also a subject that generates a certain curiosity among children, with a small majority expressing their interest (55%) when only 1/4 mention fear (13%) or boredom (13%). Finally, while almost 1 in 5 say they don’t understand much about it (19%), this particularly concerns the youngest children aged 8 to 10.
A rather relative mastery of the main financial concepts
We observe a fairly heterogeneous mastery of different financial concepts, some being relatively well identified by children (pocket money, ATM, purchase in a video game, bank card, etc.) while others appear to be more vague, in particular those linked to the financial sector (NFT, cryptocurrency, shares, stock market, financial investments, etc.). Although we note overall a relative stability of children’s familiarity with these different aspects, some continue to progress in the long term, in particular the notions of account (the need to explain how it works has decreased by 9 points vs. 2019) and bank card (-6 points vs. 2019). Payments via telephone seem to be understood by a majority of the children surveyed (42% say they need to be explained to them how it works).
Pocket money and cash, practices that remain widespread
Today, children aged 8 to 14 say they mainly receive money for special occasions (80%, with €88 received on average) such as birthdays, ahead of pocket money (53%), even if this proportion increases in the long term (+6 points since 2019). Among those receiving pocket money, the most common frequency of receipt remains monthly, with an average of €26 per month, an amount slightly higher among 13-14 year olds (€30) compared to the youngest and which has remained stable since last year. Note that children who receive pocket money more frequently indicate receiving more money in total (for example, children receiving weekly pocket money receive on average €14, or around €60/month). And if half of the children say they receive enough money (51%), more than a third of them say they do not receive enough (36%), a feeling that progresses with age.
Among the different forms that the money received can take, cash remains the vast majority (91%), a sign that this practice has not weakened over the years despite a general trend towards dematerialization. Conversely, telephone applications remain very marginal (3%). Furthermore, cash largely appears to be the main form in which they prefer to receive money (for 74% of 8-14 year olds who receive money), and particularly the youngest. With their money, children say they once again buy mainly reading material (books, comics or manga), toys and candy. We still see particularly marked gender and age differences: toys among the youngest vs. toys. clothes, shoes and bags for older children; video games for boys vs. makeup and beauty products for girls. Note also that girls indicate that they use their money more to give gifts than boys (22% vs. 12%).
A differentiated level of autonomy in purchases within this age group
Young people are still torn between saving or spending their money, however a slight preference given to savings (52%) compared to spending (46%), especially among the youngest. Furthermore, a slight majority of children say they have already bought something without the help of an adult (54%), a much higher proportion among 13-14 year olds (71%) than among 11-12 year olds (63%) and 8-10 year olds (37%). Autonomy which has tended to progress since the start of the measure (+7 points vs. 2019). At the same time, the average age of the first purchase with one’s own money remains around 9 years, a stable trend for several years. When they spend, cash payment is once again the most used method (83%), far ahead of the physical bank card, which only 13% of young people use and mainly 13-14 year olds (26%). The virtual bank card (4%) and the telephone application / on a watch (4%), remain very little used means of payment.
Digital purchases which continue to decline and which remain supervised by parents
Digital purchases continue to be in decline among young people aged 8 to 14, with just under half of those who have already bought something with their money indicating that they have already made a purchase online (45%; -4 points compared to last year, -12 points since 2022). In most cases, purchases on the Internet are made from a device belonging to the parents rather than a personal device, whether via the telephone (36% of children concerned) or the computer (28%).
Children inclined to buy second-hand and resell
If practices linked to the circular economy have progressed among the French in recent years, children’s behavior does not seem to escape this trend. Indeed, 2/3 of them indicate that they could consider buying a second-hand product rather than new to save money, an opinion increasing in the long term (+8 points since 2019) while the need to try before buying continues to be in slight decline (-4 points since 2022). At the same time, a large majority say they are inclined to part with items they no longer use (82% with things that are no longer their age, 79% with those that are their age), whether by selling them or giving them to someone else.
Despite the significant influence of the Internet, the influence of loved ones and television retains a central role in children’s purchasing desires.
The main influencing factor for children in their purchases remains in the first place things their friends own (79%). Television also remains an important vector of desire through advertisements (63%), particularly among younger people. Finally, a majority of children also indicate that they are influenced by the content they see on the Internet (social networks: 52%; influencers: 49%; elsewhere on the Internet: 57%). They also appear to be quite connected, with 91% of them declaring that they use at least one social network or digital platform and first and foremost Youtube (81%), ahead of search engines (73%) and WhatsApp (45%), with proportions which increase significantly with age.
An increasing level of vigilance regarding attempted scams
21% of children aged 8 to 14 say they have already experienced a scam attempt via SMS or instant messaging, 17% on an online video game, 17% on a social network and 16% by email. However, these values are in clear decline compared to last year (-4 points for each support; except for online video games which were not offered in 2025). In the majority of cases, the children affected by these attempts say they managed to realize this and were not fooled. Furthermore, among the few who have been scammed, less than a third nevertheless indicate that they have ultimately lost money (31%), a value again down compared to 2025 (-8 points).
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