2013年公共英语考试二级阅读材料（四）

　More and more parents are preparing for their children’s financial1 future, new research shows.

In the study done by Mutual Assurance, about a third of mums and dads put money away for their children. Because their parents continually save money for them, children do not have to worry about their spending as much. It will also help the children a great deal in the future because they will have the money that their parents saved for them in case there is a problem.

Meanwhile, just under half of parents have the habit of giving out lots of pocket money. The financial services company suggests that these parents, who give their kids a lot of money for allowance, are the least likely to be saving for the child’s future. The result of this is that these children may run into many financial difficulties in the future.

Overall, East Midlands is the area where kids are the most likely to receive pocket money. 55% of parents give their children money. In addition, this is also the area where many children may face a hard financial future as less than one in five grown-ups are saving regular2 amounts of money for them. London, on the other hand, is the place where parents give their children the least amount of pocket money.

Looking at the results of the research, Karl Elliott, the spokesperson for Mutual Assurance, said, "In a credit card society that is driven by a have-it-now culture, it is nice to see so many parents saving for their kids’ future. Children whose parents are giving them less pocket money will thank them in the years to come, when they enjoy the benefits of all the money that their parents saved up for them."