Children in the UK are yet to experience the green shoots of economic recovery with their pocket money dropping 2.4 per cent from a six-year high to an average of £6.35.

The number of children receiving weekly pocket money has also declined by two per cent to 82 per cent since last year, according to the annual Halifax survey.

While almost half of the children surveyed (48 per cent) felt they received the right amount of pocket money, two-fifths (43 per cent) thought they should be getting more and a quarter (25 per cent) believed their friends got more money.

Some 84 per cent of boys received pocket money compared with 79 per cent of girls, and boys received five per cent more at an average of £6.50 – meaning girls missed out on almost £20 a year.

Boys were also 5% more likely to want more pocket money than girls, with younger boys aged between eight and 11 the most likely to feel short changed.

The poll also found that pocket money for girls seemed to be more closely linked to carrying out household chores, with more girls than boys receiving money for tidying a bedroom, washing up and cleaning.

Around three-quarters of children (72 per cent) were saving a proportion of their pocket money, with 49 per cent saving as much as half of the money they were given and nine per cent saving all of it.

Despite so many saving their money, only a third of children (32 per cent) said they would save up for something expensive that they really wanted, while 39 per cent would prefer to ask for it as a present.

A money box was still the favoured place to store any pocket money, used by 42 per cent of children, but two-fifths (39 per cent) kept their money in the bank.

Richard Fearon, head of Halifax Savings, said: “Pocket money is a great tool to help young people learn the value of money, and to start the habits of saving and money management early on.

“While the amount of pocket money children are getting has reduced slightly, it remains encouraging that many are satisfied with the money they receive, and that so many are choosing to save the money they are given.”